'Incredible guy' - Marin Cilic praises Andrey Rublev's 'great sportsmanship' after French Open quarter-final win
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ByEurosport
Updated 01/06/2022 at 21:12 GMT
Marin Cilic is through to the semi-finals of the French Open for the first time in his career after beating Andrey Rublev in a gruelling five-set match on Court Philippe-Chatrier. The Croatian took time in his post-match interviews to applaud the sportsmanship displayed by Rublev who conceded a point after it was deemed to be out by the umpire.
'He is an incredible guy and player' - Cilic on Rublev sportsmanship and battle
Marin Cilic says he is “unbelievably proud” to be through to his first French Open semi-final and has credited Andrey Rublev for showing “great sportsmanship” during the match.
The 33-year-old Croatian needed four hours and 10 minutes to overcome the Russian and will play either Holger Rune or Casper Ruud in the next round. Cilic has reached the quarter-final stage of Roland-Garros in 2017 and 2018 but has broken new ground by reaching the final four.
Cilic was dismayed to have a shot called out by the umpire in the fifth-set decider, only for his opponent to suddenly decide to concede the point to him.
The 2014 US Open champion has praised Rublev for his generosity at a vital moment in the match.
“I’m unbelievably proud,” Cilic told Eurosport's Barbara Schett and Tim Henman in The Cube.
“Today was a tough day in the office and playing against Andrey is really a tough thing to do. Today was slightly different conditions to two days ago.
“It was a little bit harder in that the ball was not bouncing as much. Then it was not easy to open up the court and use the top spin. Luckily today I was serving fantastically well.
“I kept my focus today. It was not easy after losing that fourth set. He was really close to breaking a couple of games but I just kept my head down and put it in.
“I had some flashes in the last several years. A few years when I was playing incredibly well, aged 17 and 18, was incredible. I connect three, four sets but never this much in a tournament.
“I’m just trying to be myself in the court and whatever I feel on the court I just go for it.
“I’m just enjoying myself on the court and this performance and the fight. Andrey on a few occasions showed great sportsmanship and in this kind of a match every single point counts. I have to hand it to him.
“Bad luck to him, unfortunately one of us had to go down but it just shows he’s an incredible guy and an incredible player.”
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'An incredible battle' - Cilic pays tribute to Rublev after French Open victory
In his on-court interview, Cilic said: “It was an incredible battle. Andrey played incredibly well and it was an incredible fair play performance on the court. A lot of heart.
“One had to go down and today was my day. Andrey played an incredible match. Bad luck to him.”
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