Cilic sends 5th seed Rublev packing, secures 2nd week appearance

Marin Cilic produced a brilliant effort to take down 5th seed Andrey Rublev 7-5 7-6(3) 3-6 6-3 in a very entertaining match that had it all

Both Cilic and Rublev played fairly good tennis overall but the Croatian was simply more consistent. He was more consistent but also produced highlights when it mattered the most. The first was a closely contested one where Cilic jumped out on top 3-1 after Rublev missed a few shots. The Russian would eventually battle back thanks to some stellar play but he still lost the first set.

Cilic had a break points late in the set thanks to a superb return and he produced another one to convert the set point. The 2nd set was another closely contested one where Cilic had the upper hand generally. Despite that, Rublev kept himself in it with some solid serving overall. In the tiebreak however it was the Croatian that pulled away.

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Cilic served better than Rublev throughout the match and returned far better producing several key winners that way. Rublev struggled to get the ball in play at times and that was evident in the 3rd set. He found himself a break down but a sudden collapse by Cilic put him back into the match. Rublev won the set with 6-3 as Cilic was left confused as to what happened.

The Croatian tends to have these mental lapses quite often in matches and this time he paid the price for it. When he finally snapped out of it, he found himself playing good tennis again and pulled ahead 4-1 once more. The return and serve were crucial in that and he cruised towards a 6-3 finish.