The 33-year-old’s opponent in the semifinals is the Norwegian Casper Ruud, who won the Scandinavian duel with the Dane Holger Rune 6:1,4:6,7:6 (2),6:3 after midnight.
Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, showed an outstanding performance, especially in the decisive super tie-break of the fifth set. With several centimeter-precise balls to the line, number 20 seeded professional Rublew got on his nerves and made it into the Paris semi-finals for the first time. “The fifth set was an incredible fight. Andrej played incredibly well. One had to be thrown out and today was my day,” said Cilic.
The Croatian, who hit 33 aces but also made 71 unforced errors, caused a stir in the round of 16 with a smooth three-set win over Rublev’s compatriot Daniil Medvedev. Cilic has now reached at least the semifinals in all four Grand Slam events. Ruud is in the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, he needed 3:15 hours for his success.
In the other semi-final on Friday, German Alexander Zverev and Spaniard Rafael Nadal will meet. The 13-time French Open champion prevailed against defending champion Novak Djokovic from Serbia on Tuesday.
Source: Nachrichten
