Cilic Blasts Into Fourth Queen's Club Final
Marin Cilic has saved his best tennis for the grass-court season in recent years. This week at the Fever-Tree Championships is no exception.
Cilic booked his spot in a fourth final at The Queen's Club, edging Nick Kyrgios 7-6(3), 7-6(4) on Saturday afternoon in front of a packed Centre Court. The top seed will vie for his second title at the historic tournament, six years removed from his breakthrough win on grass in 2012.
"From before the match, I knew that Nick was going to be serving big," said Cilic. "He served really big in his first three matches, especially his last two. He was serving more than 30 aces in a match and both of those matches were in two sets. I was expecting that it's going to end up being either a point or two or even a wrong decision that can make a big difference. I was keeping myself really focused, really composed, patient.
"I felt that I was serving really good using all parts of the court really well. Even whatever was coming on my own end off the returns, I was being very focused and had to take care of those balls really well. That proved to be really good.
"I'm happy with the performance, especially as consistently to serve on that big level. It's not easy and also when you know that you are under pressure to hold your serve most of the time. That's another big plus. I'm really pleased with the mental approach to the game and also executing it really well."
The Croatian awaits either Novak Djokovic or Jeremy Chardy in Sunday's championship, looking to better his runner-up finish from last year. Cilic joins Andy Murray, Andy Roddick and Lleyton Hewitt as the only players to reach at least four finals at The Queen's Club in the past 20 years.
Most Final Appearances At The Queen's Club (since 1998)
| Player | Finals |
| Andy Murray | 5 |
| Andy Roddick | 4 |
| Lleyton Hewitt | 4 |
| Marin Cilic | 4 |
The margins were razor thin in the first set, with both Cilic and Kyrgios thumping their big serves on the lightning-fast grass. Neither would have a sniff at a break point and the opener would proceed to an inevitable tie-break. Behind a more calculating display from the baseline, Cilic seized the initiative and secured the decisive mini-break when a Kyrgios forehand sailed long.
And the Croatian would stay the course in the second set, refusing to get rattled by Kyrgios' electric game. With Lleyton Hewitt looking on, his countryman pounded three straight service winners to escape from a 30/40 hole at 2-all. But a double fault to open the ensuing tie-break proved costly for the Aussie. Cilic was steadier down the stretch, eventually taking the semi-final encounter after one hour and 26 minutes.
"It was tough," said Kyrgios. "I knew his serve was going to be tough today. I thought his forehand was really, really good. His first ball after his serve was pretty good too.
"I've played some good tennis, have played some tough opponents. I played a lot of three-setters and a lot of tennis. That's a positive. My body feels pretty good. It was a pretty successful couple of weeks, obviously given being out for two-and-a-half months before that."
Cilic was unflappable with his delivery, firing 11 aces and claiming an impressive 83 per cent of total service points. He has not been broken in 45 of 46 service games this week.
On Sunday, Cilic will play for his 18th tour-level title in what will be his 32nd final. His is bidding to lift his first trophy since prevailing on the clay of Istanbul last year, while his lone previous victory at the ATP World Tour 500 level came on the indoor hard courts of Basel in 2016.
Did You Know?
Cilic is now 2-1 in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Kyrgios. Their three meetings have come on all three surfaces, with Cilic also earning a straight-set win at Roland Garros in 2013 and Kyrgios returning the favour in the Marseille final two years ago.