Marin Cilic barged into the semifinals of the 2017 Wimbledon Championships with a thrilling 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 win over Gilles Muller on Court 1 Wednesday. The Croatian dug deep in this epic battle, needing three hours and 30 minutes to record the marathon win. It was a morale-boosting victory for Cilic who had lost in the quarterfinals at the All England Club the past three years. The former US Open champion reigned supreme in that baseline battle, hitting a whopping 72 winners against Muller.
Waiting in the next round for Cilic is the talented Sam Querrey. This will be the fifth meeting between the two stars in the ATP Tour with Cilic winning each of their previous four matches. In fact, two of those victories have come at the hallowed grounds of the All England Club. Cilic owns a healthy 3-0 edge against Querrey on grass. For Cilic to extend his dominance against Querrey, he needs to continue his excellent play on the service end. He won 84 percent of his first serve points in the win against Muller. Cilic also hammered 34 aces in that quarterfinal clash.
Leave it to Sam Querrey to keep the American flag flying at the Wimbledon Championships. Querrey stormed into the semifinals of this prestigious tournament for the first time in his career with a stunning 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1 victory over Andy Murray on Wednesday. It was a gutsy performance from Querrey who needed two hours and 42 minutes to outlast the hometown favorite. With the victory, he became the first American man to reach the semifinals at a Grand Slam tournament since Andy Roddick here in 2009.
Providing the impetus for Querrey’s impressive victory was his towering serve. He converted 64 percent of his first serves against Murray with the American winning 59 of his 71 first serve points (83 percent success rate). Querrey also finished the match with a whopping 24 aces. He’s tops in this Grand Slam event when it comes to that particular department (126 total aces).
The American will need to bring that killer serve once again this coming Friday if he is to beat Marin Cilic. Querrey will be licking his chops at the prospect of facing a Cilic return that looked out of sorts in the quarterfinals. Cilic won just 30 percent of his receiving points against Muller with the Croatian converting just three of his 10 break point chances. If Querrey’s first serve is right on target in the semifinals, it’s going to be a long afternoon for Cilic.
Writer’s Prediction
Querrey (+230) makes America proud with a shock five-set win over Cilic.
