Marin Cilic is 33, nearly eight seasons past his one Grand Slam title at the 2014 U.S. Open 바카라 and, until Wednesday, more than four full years removed from his most recent trip to the semifinals of a major tournament. ()
If he keeps serving like this, there바카라s no reason to think about quitting tennis anytime soon.
Cilic delivered 33 aces to get to the final four at the French Open for the first time, edging No. 7 seed Andrey Rublev 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (10-2) on Wednesday in a 4-hour, 10-minute test of strength and will.
바카라Andrey played incredibly well. One had to go down,바카라 the 20th-seeded Cilic said, 바카라and today was my day.바카라
The Croatian is the fifth active man to complete a full set of at least one semifinal run at all four Slam events, joining Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray, each of whom has been ranked No. 1 and won multiple majors.
Cilic was the runner-up to Federer at Wimbledon in 2017 and the Australian Open in 2018; the latter had been Cilic바카라s most recent trip to a Slam semifinal.
On Friday, Cilic will take on No. 8 Casper Ruud for a spot in the final. The other men바카라s semifinal is 13-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal, who eliminated Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals, against No. 3 Alexander Zverev.
Ruud, a 23-year-old from Norway, beat Rune, a 19-year-old from Denmark, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3 to get to his first Grand Slam semifinal.
Their match got a bit testy, with Ruud telling Rune he didn바카라t appreciate him questioning an obvious officiating call.
바카라I told him, 바카라What, do you need to check every mark?바카라 and he told me to be quiet. I asked him, 바카라Maybe that바카라s not the greatest thing to tell your opponent to be quiet when I바카라m talking to you?바카라 And he said it once more. So that was all that happened. And I didn바카라t exchange any more words with him after this,바카라 Ruud said. 바카라So that바카라s what he wants to say and behave? That바카라s up to him.바카라
Rune confirmed Ruud바카라s account of their interaction.
Rune had never won a Grand Slam match until last week.
바카라Obviously disappointed that I couldn바카라t do better today. But still I have to look at the two weeks 바카라 it was great,바카라 Rune said. 바카라I mean, I played some good matches. A lot of positives to take.바카라
Cilic might be a decade older than his next opponent, but he feels good these days.
When he had a physical exam at the end of 2021, he said, his doctor told him: 바카라Your body바카라s like 25.바카라
Continued Cilic: 바카라Don바카라t tell my wife I바카라m saying this, (but) I might be playing another 10 years.바카라
All kidding aside, he said: 바카라How long? We바카라ll see. But definitely three, four years, if I can be competitive like this.바카라
He dropped Rublev바카라s career mark in major quarterfinals to 0-5. That was thanks in part to Cilic바카라s overwhelming ability to strike serves and groundstrokes for winners 바카라 88 in all, more than twice as many as Rublev바카라s total of 35.
바카라It was hard emotionally, because he played some games very well,바카라 Cilic said. 바카라When you play this long, there바카라s always be some ups and down, so I had to keep my focus.바카라
Rublev twice displayed good sportsmanship, indicating early in the tiebreaker that one of Cilic바카라s strokes was indeed in and, earlier at 1-all in the fifth set, volunteering to replay a point after Cilic complained that a shot that was called out had touched a line.
As part of an agreement among the four Grand Slam hosts to standardize one element of the sport, this is the first time the French Open has used a tiebreaker in fifth sets of men바카라s matches 바카라 and third sets of women바카라s matches.
Cilic ran away with the first-to-10 format against Rublev, collecting the match바카라s last nine points after trailing 2-1 in the tiebreaker.
The 6-foot-6 (1.98 meter) Cilic has one of the biggest serves on tour, and he delivered them at up to 133 mph (214 kph) on Wednesday, with an average speed of 123 mph (199 kph).
He came up with three aces in the tiebreaker.
바카라Almost all the important points he was winning with his serve,바카라 Rublev said, 바카라and was really, really tough to read or to return.바카라
