After having tasted the last four in Melbourne, Wimbledon and New York, Marin Cilic will finally be able to discover that of Paris following his victory over Andrey Rublev. The Croatian, who will face Casper Ruud, joins gambling giants in history. On the women’s side, Daria Kasatkina and Iga Swiatek continue to impress, while Cori Gauff wins on all courts.
CILIC COMPLETES ITS HUNTING TABLE… He took time, more than 4 hours, to get rid of Andrey Rublev (5-7 6-3 6-4 3-6 7-6), but it does not matter how, as long as Marin Cilic has the intoxication of the work accomplished. Present at least once in the last four of the 3 other Grand Slam tournaments, the Croatian had never before joined that of the Parisian event. We must recognize that he deserved his place at this stage. Impeccable once morest Daniil Medvedev on Monday, the winner of the US Open 2014 certainly had more trouble yesterday, but in the end, it makes sense to find him at the rendezvous on Friday, because once morest Rublev, the giant of Medugorge did everything: faults such as winning shots (88!). He made the mistake of keeping his opponent in the match in the 4th set, wasting a lot of chances due to an unconvincing forward game, but his mastery of the super tie-break was simply remarkable. So much so that in the space of 10 minutes, we thought we were seeing the Cilic of a historic New York fortnight 8 years ago.
CROATIAN IN HISTORY… By winning his place in the last four, Marin Cilic (34 years old in September) has joined a caste of giants: that of the (rare) players still active who have played at least one semi-final in the 4 major tournaments. Alongside him are Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. Hard to beat…
RUUD WRITTEN HIS AND NORWAY’S… While Marin Cilic is writing history, Casper Ruud is writing his own and that of his country. By dropping the daring Holger Rune (6-1 4-6 7-6 6-3), the man from Oslo becomes the first Norwegian to appear in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament. It’s strong! Facing the Dane, Casper was never ghostly, but he got lost at times, especially in the 2nd set, when he had a break lead, then let that set slip away. His tie-break in the 3rd was on the other hand smoothly conducted. With experience (despite his only 22 years), Ruud was able to force the door that leads to Marin Cilic. For Rune, this is probably only the continuation of the apprenticeship. Tennis lovers have not finished seeing it. But we will just not thank him for this magic handshake, which Radek Stepanek would not have denied.
SOON FACING HIS IDOL? 13 days ago, we had Casper Ruud in front of us, in the Geneva Open press tent. The Norwegian was flushed, following winning an epic final of more than 3 hours once morest Joao Sousa. He had already expressed his desire to shine at Roland-Garros. If we knew him capable of doing something regarding it, we did not see him to be honest until the last four. Not only because his tennis lacks panache and life, but also because it appeared “cooked”. Except that taking advantage of a clear table and his qualities of delivery, he who brings back almost all the balls has a real shot to play. With a final in sight once morest his lifelong idol, Rafael Nadal?
A BEAUTIFUL AD… The Geneva Open promotes itself even without being in Paris. And for good reason, 3 of the 4 male semi-finalists have shone on his clay court in recent years. Casper Ruud is the double title holder. Alexander Zverev had won the 2019 edition. And Marin Cilic was a finalist in 2016. Only Rafael Nadal has never passed through Eaux-Vives. But the Spanish monster has always had other fish to fry…
SWIATEK, DITES 33! After turning 21, everything is going well for Iga Swiatek. After her 1st set bumping into the round of 16 once morest Zheng, the Pole has indeed found her true cruising speed to choke Jessica Pegula throughout a true demonstration of accuracy, despite all the defensive efforts of the American (6-3 6-2). Just impeccable once morest an opponent who was too limited, the No. 1 WTA thus signed her 33rd success in a row. One day, it will necessarily stop. But not sure it will be during this fortnight…
KASATKINA IS COMING AT GREAT SPEED… Daria Kasatkina obviously sees things differently and would be delighted, this Thursday, to stop Swiatek in her series of victories and on the way which might lead the Pole to a 2nd title at Roland-Garros. The Russian is right to believe it, since everything she has produced for almost 2 weeks is perfect. Consider that following passing the first 4 rounds without losing a set, she continued in the same vein in front of her compatriot Veronika Kudermetova. Of course, the No. 29 seed gave Togliatti’s daughter a bit of a hard time, but this one still came out in 2 sets (6-4 7-6). Own! Now 25, Kasatkina has already signed her best Grand Slam result. But only the title, from now on, interests him.
DARIA IN FRONT OF THE MOUNTAIN… To go to the end, Daria Kasatkina will therefore have to stop the tornado of Warsaw. Not easy! “It is indeed a mountain that rises in front of merecognized the Russian following her quarter-final. I will have to climb it. Finally, maybe it’s better for me not to have too much time to think regarding my victory once morest Kudermetova, because a new fight awaits me right away.“
GAUFF AND THE MEMORIES OF 2020… As we reminded you yesterday, the two other semi-finalists, Coco Gauff and Martina Trevisan, faced each other at Roland-Garros in 2020. Their only meeting then turned to the advantage of the Italian, which left a bitter taste to the American, who mentioned it at a press conference: “I remember that game very well. I think I had lined up regarding ten double faults. I already hope to avoid doing it once more on Thursday… More seriously, Martina is a very complicated player to face on clay, a beautiful left-hander. We both play attacking tennis and I think it will be a fun game to watch..” It should be noted that Coco Gauff is everywhere in Paris, since she obtained her qualification for the semi-finals of the doubles last night, which she is playing in the company of… Jessica Pegula. The American duo will face compatriots on Friday in half: Taylor Townsend and Madison Keys.
TREVISAN ON ITS CLOUD… Gauff’s singles opponent, Martina Trevisan, meanwhile, is on cloud nine with her 10 successes in a row, between Rabat and Paris. Although she is aware that the semi-final earlier will have nothing to do with their second round of 20 months ago, the Florentine is not worried. She savors the present moment: “I play the best tennis of my life and I want to enjoy it. But I know it can still be better. The most important thing is that I feel happy on the pitch. I just do what I love. The past is the past. I look forward to discovering what the future holds for me.” Nicely said.
PICTURE OF THE DAY… That of Andrey Rublev, quite passive at times once morest Marin Cilic, who can blame himself for not having tried something more to pass the Croatian who was not exceptional yesterday.
SENTENCE OF THE DAY: questioned by Eurosport on the strangest French word he has heard, Casper Ruud revealed that the expression “la chatte”, often repeated by French speakers in the face of an opponent who is lucky (definition: Didier Deschamps) , the plot. “I often hear players shout this word. I don’t know what that means, but it’s probably not very nice. Seems quite strange to me…“
IT’S OVER FOR FELDBAUSCH! The Genevan Kilian Feldbausch will not go further in the junior tournament. Semi-finalist in Melbourne in January, he stopped in the round of 16 in Paris, beaten by the Mexican Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez (7-5 4-6 0-6). On the other hand, Dylan Dietrich is in the quarterfinals. The Zurich player, who beat the Lithuanian Elias Butvilas (7-6 3-6 6-4), will do battle with the Belgian Gilles Arnaud Bailly. Case to follow!
THIEM IN THE BLUR… On the sidelines of Roland-Garros, we learned that Dominic Thiem, who was to line up next week at the Perugia Challenger, will not ultimately make the trip to Italy. Winner of the US Open 2020 and in bad shape for 18 months now, the Austrian says he needs to rest once more. As a reminder: since his return at the end of February, he has not won a single match. One can legitimately wonder if he will really be able to resume the thread of his career one day.
Arnaud Cerutti – @arnaud_cerutti
