A little nudge in the right direction from his hero and Croatian countryman Goran Ivanisevic helped Marin Cilic to overcome a major hump on Tuesday.
The 20-year-old Cilic, yet another Croatian beanpole blessed with a thunderbolt serve, has long been on the verge of making his Grand Slam breakthrough.
But after tripping up in the last 16 four times, Cilic — who was born in Bosnia-Herzegovina — made it count on his fifth attempt by beating second seed Andy Murray.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“I’m feeling tremendously happy. Of course it’s biggest result for me so far. After reaching the last 16 four times, it was a little bit of relief after I won it. Now that I don’t have this [mental] blockade in my head, I can look forward,” he said.
Cilic began his journey towards Grand Slam success more than six years ago when Ivanisevic, fresh from his triumph at Wimbledon, needed a hitting partner.
A 14-year-old Cilic jumped at the chance of testing out his skills against the country’s best and has never looked back.
“In 2002-2003, Goran was staying in Zagreb and practising all the time with me when he was there. He connected me with his ex-coach, Bob Brett, who I am here with,” Cilic said.
“Goran was a great help, otherwise I wouldn’t be here today. He is the one who brought tennis on a high level in Croatia and everybody looked at him as a hero,” he said.
“For us younger ones, it was also big help money wise as there were many more sponsors coming into the tennis. So Goran helped me a lot,” he said.
Cilic, who reached a career-high ranking of 13 in May, plays Argentine sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro in the quarter-finals. When the two meet, fans may feel as if they are seeing double.
In their bare feet, both stand tall at 1.98m and both will turn 21 within five days of each other later this month.
However, there is one psychological advantage the Argentine will have over Cilic — this will be the fourth time he has contested a grand slam quarter-final and in June he came within a whisker of defeating Roger Federer in the French Open semis.
But Cilic remains undaunted.
“I played him in [the fourth round in] Australia and I think I have my chance,” he said. “If I take positive things from today ... I think I have the game that can hurt him.”
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care