Medvedev Turns The Tide Against Cilic To Reach R4 At Wimbledon

  • Posted: Jul 03, 2021

Down two-sets-to-love on No.1 Court, Daniil Medvedev kept his composure and raised his level to overcome 2017 finalist Marin Cilic and reach the second week at Wimbledon for the first time.

Medvedev extended his grass-court winning streak to seven matches with the 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 victory, his first time coming back from two sets down at a Grand Slam.

“It was an unbelievable match,” Medvedev said in an on-court interview. “I think tennis fans always enjoy watching players come back from two-sets-to-love down and for it to be five sets. I certainly do so when I watch tennis on the TV. It’s my first comeback [from 0-2 sets down], and actually what’s amazing is against David Goffin at Wimbledon in 2019, I was two-sets-to-love down and I had a break in the fifth set, but I lost. So when I left the court after the fourth set today, I told myself, ‘It’s not going to be another one of those’.

“So I’m really happy. When I was 5-0, 40/0 up at the end and Marin came back to 2-5, I thought to myself, ‘Again..!’ Marin is an amazing player and for the first two sets he basically destroyed me.”

The World No. 2 arrived at the All England Club high on confidence after claiming his 11th ATP Tour title at the Mallorca Championships (d. Querrey), his first tour-level trophy on grass courts. He continued the momentum to become the seventh Russian man to complete a set of Round of 16 appearances at all four Grand Slams, and the second to do so in as many days after Andrey Rublev achieved the feat on Friday.

With Rublev and Karen Khachanov already through to the second week, Medvedev’s win also marks the first time that three Russian men have reached this stage at Wimbledon in the Open Era (since April 1968).

The Russian  will next face 14th seed Hubert Hurkacz for a spot in the quarter-finals, where he could meet Roger Federer should the Swiss win his next match over Lorenzo Sonego. Hurkacz moved into the fourth round, his best result at a Grand Slam, with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Alexander Bublik on Court 12.

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Second seed Medvedev was in trouble in the early stretches as the 32nd seed followed his booming serve with smart forays inside the court, winning 25 of 36 points at the net. After trading breaks of serve to start the first set, Cilic charged through the tie-break before sealing the 70-minute opener with a smash. 

Cilic raced through the second set with a double break, before Medvedev finally halted his momentum in the third. The Russian took advantage of some shaky service games from the big-serving Croatian, putting more returns in play and keeping the ball low to go up 5-2. 

Medvedev continued to turn the tide as the unforced errors piled up off Cilic’s racquet. He kept 6’6” Cilic on the move and went to the drop shot with more regularity and success in the fourth set. He raced ahead to a 5-0, triple-break lead in the fifth set. Medvedev converted his fourth match after Cilic pushed a backhand long point to advance.

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