Wimbledon: Daniil Medvedev overcomes a 2-set deficit for the first time to beat Marin Cilic and take 4th place in the round
Daniil Medvedev lit up the center court with his famous fighting spirit, overcoming a 2-set deficit for the first time in his career to beat Marin Cilic in a hard-fought men’s singles match in the third round at Wimbledon 2021. Medvedev moved to the second week with 6-7(3), 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 victory.
Medvedev, the second seed, has made it to the final at the Australian Open and quarter-final at French Open but this is the first time he has progressed to the last 16 at Wimbledon. The 25-year-old Russian looked flat in the opening two sets as Cilic used his powerful serve and forehand to great effect but wrestled back into the contest to make the progress.
Cilic edged the opening set on a tiebreak and when he bludgeoned a forehand winner to carve out a set point in the second, and was then gifted a Medvedev double-fault, it looked like the Croatian 32nd seed was in total control.
But the heat went out of Cilic’s game as the evening dragged on and Medvedev patiently clawed his way back from the brink.
The Russian broke serve at 2-2 in the third set when Cilic missed a forehand down the line and got the double break when he chased down a dropshot to hit a deftly-angled winner.
It was a similar story in the third set as Medvedev began to dictate the points with his relentless accuracy and by the time the fifth set started Cilic looked totally deflated, asking the chair umpire how much light there was left for play.
The 32-year-old Croat perhaps wanted the roof to be closed to halt the Russian’s charge but Medvedev was ruthless in the decider as he stormed into a 5-0 lead.
Medvedev double-faulted twice on match points in the next game as he briefly lost focus to give Cilic a slender lifeline.
Suddenly Cilic looked fired-up again as the crowd got behind the 2017 finalist but Medvedev put down the mini rebellion with a powerful first serve to end the contest.
With Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev already through, it is only the third time in the professional era that a Grand Slam tournament has had three Russian men in the last 16. (With inputs from Reuters).
