Marin Cilic of Croatia won an impressive quarterfinal on Wednesday. For the second straight time at the 2022 French Open, Cilic beat a Russian. In a four hour and 10 minute thriller, the 2014 United States Open champion defeated the seventh seeded Russian Andrey Rublev, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6. The quarterfinal win came after Cilic shocked Russian Daniil Medvedev, the second seed, 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round on Monday.
In a remarkable performance by Cilic, the 20th ranked player in the world, had 33 aces, a remarkable total on clay, where the surface tends to be slower than hard court or grass. Yes, the match went five sets, and you tend to see more aces in matches that go the distance, but 33 aces on clay is simply fantastic.
What will also stand out in this quarterfinal, will be Cilic’s dominant performance in the fifth set super tiebreak, where he absolutely clobbered Rublev by a 10-2 scoreline. This is the first year that the super tiebreak is being instituted at the French Open. Cilic becomes the third player to win a match at the 2022 French Open in a fifth set super tiebreak. He follows Hugo Gaston of France and Camilo Ugo Carabelli of Argentina, who both won in a fifth set super tiebreak in the first round.
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Gaston defeated 19th seed Alex de Minaur of Australia, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 0-6, 7-6. In the fifth set super tiebreak, Gaston won 10-4. Carabelli, a qualifier, defeated Russian Aslan Karatsev, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6. In the fifth set super tiebreak, Cabrelli won 10-5.
Two years ago Gaston, made tennis headlines at the 2020 French Open, when he stunned 2015 French Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in the third round, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-0. Wawrinka is a three-time grand slam singles champion as he also won the 2014 Australian Open and 2016 United States Open.
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