Cilic In Control As Rain Brings Day Three To An End
Cilic In Control As Rain Brings Day Three To An End
Marin Cilic, Stan Wawrinka and Kevin Anderson will all have to return to Wimbledon on Thursday, after rain suspended several big matches on day three at The All England Club. Cilic, looking to extend his 2018 unbeaten streak on grass to seven matches, won the opening two sets of his encounter with Guido Pella 6-3, 6-4, but trails the Argentine by a break at 3-4 in the third set.
The No. 3 seed, who saved match point against Novak Djokovic to lift his second title at The Fever-Tree Championships in June, is bidding to reach the third round at The All England Club for the fifth consecutive year. Cilic has reached the quarter-finals or better in each of his past four visits to SW19.
American Mackenzie McDonald awaits either Cilic or Pella the third round. The 23-year-old edged Chilean Nicolas Jarry 7-6(5), 5-7, 3-6, 6-2, 11-9, in just over three and a half hours, to reach the third round at a Grand Slam for the first time. McDonald’s best result at a Grand Slam prior to Wimbledon was a run to the second round at the 2018 Australian Open, falling in five sets to Grigor Dimitrov.
Wawrinka, who upset sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov on Monday, is locked in a battle against Italian Thomas Fabbiano, who leads 7-6(7), 6-3, 5-6 (deuce). Wawrinka led 5/1 in the first-set tie-break but was unable to put away Fabbiano, who qualified and is playing just his third tour-level match on grass.
Are You In? Subscribe To Get Tournament Updates In Your Inbox
American Jared Donaldson looks as if he could be in the midst of a comeback as well against Greece’s #NextGenATP star Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Athens native leads 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 3-4. The winner of Wawrinka/Fabbiano will face Donaldson or Tsitsipas for a spot in the Round of 16.
Eighth seed Kevin Anderson, three times a fourth-round finisher at SW19, leads Italy’s Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 1-1. The winner will meet German Philipp Kohlschreiber or Gilles Muller, who beat Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon fourth round last year. Kohlschreiber leads 7-6(6), 6-6.