It was Čilić’s sixth win against the 30-year-old American player and the fifth on a grass court.
For the third year in a row and the fifth time in his career, Croatia’s best tennis player Marin Čilić has reached the semifinals of the ATP 500 Series tournament at the Queen’s Club in London, after he defeated American player Sam Querrey (ATP-13) 7:6 (3), 6:2, reports Gol.hr on June 22, 2018. It was the sixth win for Čilić against the 30-year-old American, and the fifth on a grass court.
In the equal first set, Čilić first had the opportunity to win the first part of the match, but Querrey saved the match point in the tenth game. It was also the only chance to break in the first set. The American opened the decisive game of the first set and led 2:0, but Cilić replied by winning seven of the next eight points and thus created the initial result and psychological advantage.
Losing the first set had a massive toll on Querrey, which could be best seen at the beginning of the second when his first serve dropped to 40 percent in the first four games – it was at 72 percent in the first set. Čilić used Querrey’s weakness and created the advantage of two breaks (4:0), which he held without difficulty and after 78 minutes, came to the first match point of the game.
Čilić lost only three points on his first serve, leaving Querrey without any chance to break and took three of five opportunities to take Querrey’s service.
Marin will play against the winner of the quarterfinal match between Nick Kyrgios and Feliciano Lopez, who Čilić lost to in last year’s final. Čilić leads Lopez 5:3 in duels and 2:1 on grass courts (all three played at the Queen’s Club), while Čilić has one win and one loss against Kyrgios, though they have not played one another since the 2016 Marseille finals where Kyrgios celebrated.
