French Open: Fired-up Federer sees off Cilic in style

By Sports Desk June 03, 2021

Roger Federer produced his best display of the year to defeat Marin Cilic in four sets in the second round of the French Open.

The 20-time grand slam singles champion overcame frustrations with the umpire and the powerful resilience of his opponent to win 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 on Thursday.

The Swiss great holds an 11-1 lead in their head-to-head record, that one defeat coming back in the US Open semi-finals in 2014 when Cilic went on to lift the trophy, and it seemed as though Federer had their latest contest on his racquet early on.

He raced into a 5-1 lead in the first set before closing it out in just 31 minutes, the crowd left stunned when the eighth seed stretched up to produce a remarkable drop-shot return winner.

Matters became trickier in the second set as Cilic went 3-0 ahead and only some precise serve-and-forehand work from Federer prevented the double break.

A curious moment occurred with Cilic leading 3-1 when Federer was issued a time violation when receiving serve at deuce. A bemused Federer spoke at length with the umpire before calling to Cilic, "Am I playing too slow?".

Although far from descending into a shouting match, the incident seemed to throw off Federer, who gifted the set to Cilic with two forehand errors and looked unsettled until he refocused with a ripped backhand winner in the opening game of the third.

Cilic forced the tie-break after Federer had spurned an easy chance for a double break, but a double fault from the world number 47 handed the initiative to his rival, who by this time looked imperious on serve and in control from the baseline.

An ace on his first set point wrapped up the breaker and another Cilic double fault saw him fall a break behind in the fourth. This time, Federer did not allow a sniff of a comeback.

Data Slam: Federer back in the groove with clinical display

More accustomed to facing Cilic in the later stages of majors – he has beaten the Croatian in Wimbledon and Australian Open finals – Federer nonetheless needed to find something close to his best tennis after allowing early control to slip away in only his fourth match since returning after knee surgery.

The 39-year-old fired down 16 aces to one double fault and 47 winners to just 27 unforced errors. As Cilic said before the contest: "No matter the age, Roger has the formula."

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Cilic – 43/44
Federer – 47/27

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS
Cilic – 12/6
Federer – 16/1

BREAK POINTS WON
Cilic – 3/8
Federer – 5/16

Related items

  • WTA Finals: Sabalenka breezes past Zheng to make winning start WTA Finals: Sabalenka breezes past Zheng to make winning start

    Aryna Sabalenka continued her dominance over Zheng Qinwen with victory in her first match of the season-ending WTA Finals in Riyadh. 

    Sabalenka, who entered the tournament as the new world number one, emerged a 6-3 6-4 victor in just under an hour and a half in Saudi Arabia. 

    The Belarusian's triumph saw her claim a 10th win against a top 10 opponent in 2024, surpassing Iga Swiatek (nine), who is in action against Barbora Krejcikova on Sunday. 

    Sabalenka also improved her record to 5-0 against the Olympic champion, though acknowledged the difficulties she faced.

    "I’m super happy with the win, especially against Qinwen," Sabalenka said.

    “It’s always tough matches, tough battles against her, and I'm really, I’m really glad I was able to finish this match in straight sets.”

    Having won the Australian Open and US Open this season, Sabalenka said it is her dream to claim a maiden WTA Finals crown. 

    "It would mean everything to me. I really worked hard the past years since the very beginning of my career," the 26-year-old said.

    "I really hope I'll be able to hold this beautiful trophy one day."

    In Saturday's other match, Jasmine Paolini marked her WTA Finals debut with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 win over Elena Rybakina.

    Paolini became the first Italian to register 40 wins during a single season at WTA events since Sara Errani, who managed 48 Tour-level victories in 2015.

  • Marmoush makes Frankfurt history with 10th Bundesliga goal of season Marmoush makes Frankfurt history with 10th Bundesliga goal of season

    Omar Marmoush made club history with his goal in Eintracht Frankfurt's 7-2 win over Bochum.

    The forward was on target and provided two assists as Dino Toppmoller's side leapfrogged reigning Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen to third place in the table.

    Marmoush notched up his 10th goal of the season, becoming the first Frankfurt player to achieve the feat in the opening nine matches of a Bundesliga season.

    The Egypt international broke Tony Yeboah's record of nine goals in as many matchdays, set during the 1993-94 campaign.

    With his two assists, Marmoush took his tally of direct goal contributions for this season to 16, the joint-most in the Bundesliga along with Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane.

    In fact, Kane is the only player to have previously registered more direct goal contributions after the first nine games of a Bundesliga campaign, with 17 last term.

  • Southampton 1-0 Everton: Late Armstrong strike seals Saints' first win Southampton 1-0 Everton: Late Armstrong strike seals Saints' first win

    Adam Armstrong's late goal gave Southampton their first Premier League win of the season as they beat Everton 1-0 at St Mary's.

    Armstrong’s first league strike of the season came in the 85th minute of Saturday's tightly fought contest, while lifting the Saints off the foot of the table.

    Aaron Ramsdale had earlier kept the scores level with a fine save from Michael Keane's close-range header, while substitute Beto nodded against the crossbar.

    Southampton broke through five minutes from time when substitute Yukinari Sugawara's low centre was superbly swept home by Armstrong.

    Everton thought they had an equaliser when Beto raced in behind and finished brilliantly beyond Ramsdale. 

    However, a VAR review showed that the Brazilian had strayed offside, and the goal was overturned, to the delight of the home fans, who celebrated a Premier League victory for the first time since March 2023.

    Data Debrief: Saints off the mark

    Southampton finally have their first victory on the board courtesy of Armstrong's strike which, timed at 84 minutes and 33 seconds, is their latest Premier League winning goal since Charlie Austin struck six seconds later against Arsenal in December 2018.

    The Saints also recorded their 14th Premier League win against Everton at home, now their outright most against a single opponent in the competition.

    As for the Toffees, their five-game unbeaten league run comes to an end, and they have now lost 11 of their last 15 league games in November.

© 2024 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.