By Chris Oddo | Wednesday July 12, 2017
Marin Cilic edged Gilles Muller in five sets to reach his first Wimbledon semifinal.
Photo Source: AFP
Marin Cilic squandered three match points in a heartbreaking quarterfinal loss to Roger Federer at Wimbledon last year. It could have knocked the spirit out of a lesser competitor.
Not Cilic.
More: Querrey Shocks Defending Champion Murray out of Wimbledon
The powerful Croatian edged Gilles Muller in five sets, 3-6, 7-6(8), 7-5, 5-7, 1-6, to book his first ever Wimbledon quarterfinal and at least partially erase the bitterness of that loss to Federer.
Now the window is wide open for the Croatian, who will face surprise semifinalist Sam Querrey in the semifinals on Friday.
Cilic owns a 4-0 lifetime record against the American including a marathon win on the Wimbledon grass that went to 17-15 in the final set.
The American will certainly not be an easy out—there’s no such thing at this stage of a major—but the alternative would have been to face two-time and defending champion Andy Murray, so Cilic can hardly complain about his draw.
Muller, who shocked the grounds on Manic Monday when he took out Rafael Nadal in five sets, was a worthy adversary for Cilic, but the 34-year-old Luxembourgian ran out of steam in a fifth set that saw him broken in his first two service games and win just seven of 16 service games.
That sliver of statistical evidence was in stark contrast to Muller’s impressive numbers all week. He had sliced and diced his way to his first Wimbledon quarterfinal with a steady diet of serve-and-volley and some surprisingly impressive baseline play.
But the relentless, driving attack of Cilic wore him down. The Croatian played a few sizzling return games. Cilic blasted a forehand crosscourt winner to break for 2-0 and then converted another break when a Muller down-the-line forehand sailed well long of the baseline to give him a 4-0 lead.
It would prove to be more than enough for the hard-serving Cilic, who rained down 33 aces and won 84 percent of his first serves in victory.