Marin Cilic defeats Gilles Muller to setup Semifinal clash with Querrey
ventually Croatian fire melted the Luxembourg ice. After Gilles Muller’s marathon upset of Rafael Nadal on Manic Monday, another five-set war proved a bridge too far against Marin Cillic who advances to his first Wimbledon semi-final.
It was understandable that Muller would run out of steam after his near five-hour tussle against Nadal as Cilic dominated the final set, which was an unfair reflection on the tightness of the overall contest that finished 3-6, 7-6, 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 in three and a half hours.
Both men relied upon their serves, which cancelled each other for the most part, but in terms of temperament and personality their clash made for a fascinating contrast in styles. Muller was stone-faced, emotionally inscrutable while Cilic’s heart was practically tattooed on his sleeve.
Luxembourg’s most famous sporting son playing in his first grand slam quarter final picked up where he left off against Nadal breaking Cilic twice in the first set and forcing further break points in the second. But after losing the second in tiebreak, Muller’s impenetrable facade finally slipped and for the first time in 31 service consecutive games he was broken in the third. Muller though rebounded to snatch the fourth before falling away in the fifth. The giantkiller met his match in 6ft 6in Cilic.
The No7 seed, who will now face fellow big-hitter Sam Querrey in what must rank as the least anticipated semi-final of modern times on Friday, sent down 33 aces. A further 34 serves went unreturned. That the longest rally was 11 strokes painted a story of what was far from the finest exhibition of tennis at the All England club over these past ten days unless you are a particular aficionado of serving.
Another epic – in the sense of length rather than quality – may be in the offing against Querrey with whom Cilic engaged in the second longest match in Wimbledon history five years ago; the Croatian coming out on top over the course of five hours and 31 minutes.
