Marin Cilic reached the quarter-finals of the French Open on Monday evening in a curious way. Against Fabio Fognini, who had long been believed dead, the world’s number four won 6:4, 6:1, 3:6, 6:7(4), 6:3. An obvious injury to Fognini’s lower leg dominated the game for long stretches.
“It was a crazy match. Fabio gave me so many chances, but suddenly he comes back,” Cilic said after the match. “A few points, a few mistakes from him in the fifth set will decide the match.”
The usual tempestuous Italian was particularly emotional this Monday. It quickly became clear why: Fognini let his anger run free right from the start because he was physically weak. After a quick 3-0 he fought his way back into the set but had to relinquish his serve at 4-4.
The first set was gone, and probably also the hope to win three sets against Cilic. He tried as best as possible to stay focused and to follow through with his aggressive style of play. Against a lethargic, frustrated Fognini, however, this was not easy, a game developed that was hardly beautiful to watch.
Fognini had the physio come to the middle of the second movement, but he himself did not know how to treat Fognini. After a light massage of the lower leg and a painkiller, the six-time ATP title holder continued the match, but could hardly move, especially on serve.
After an hour and 20 minutes, Cilic took a 2-0 lead and many were not wondering if Fognini would give up, but when. But Flavia Pennetta’s proud husband apparently didn’t think for a second and soon after benefited from a catastrophic service game by Cilic, which started a great race to catch up.
Suddenly the 1.98-metre-hüne seemed insecure, and Fognini actually grabbed the third set, and a little later a contested fourth run in the tiebreak. At that time both players showed absolute top tennis, there was no sign of Fognini’s injury.
In the seventh game of the fifth set, however, Cilic took the decisive death blow. At the beginning of the decision, the Wimbledon finalist from the previous year was still very weak in terms of return, but the Wimbledon finalist continued to increase and reduced Fognini’s serve over his first serve. Another break for 6-3 secured Cilic a place in the quarter-finals.
“Staying focused was the key,” Cilic said. “I’m very pleased to have come through here.”
Juan Martin del Potro, however, played Cilic in the quarter-finals. On Monday evening, John Isner defeated the current number six in the world 6:4, 6:4 6:4.
“My returns were the key to success today,” said del Potro. “I really enjoy playing here, even though the fans keep yelling’U-S-A’.”
This underlines del Potro’s role as the secret favourite for the title at the French Open. He didn’t care much about Isner’s cannon serves, it was the Argentinean who won more points over the first serve. The Indian Wells champ beat 25 winners with only 14 unforced mistakes, while the statistics read significantly worse with his opponent (32:41).