Marin Čilić won easily, as his opponent retired due to injury, while Petra Martić was just couple of points away from the win, but ran out of steam in the final games of the match
It was an exciting day at Roland Garros for two Croatian players, as both Martić and Čilić were playing to get to their first quarter-finals on the clay courts in Paris. On June the 5th, 2017, only one of them managed to get there, and it was Čilić who made it.
Petra Martić was the first one to hit the Suzanne-Lenglen Court, and she started the match in great shape, taking the first set from Elina Svitolina, the Ukrainian 6th seeded favourite 6-4. Petra started the second set with a break, but Svitolina found her posture and won the second set 6-3.
The deciding set was in order, and it seemed that dreams would come true for the 26-year-old player from Split, as she had the 5-2 lead. The Ukrainian player appeared as though she had given up on the match, but Petra missed a couple of easy shots at 30-30 in the eighth game of the final set.
This gave new wind to Svitolina, and she brought her best efforts onto the court, while Martić seemed tired, and the Ukrainian breezed past the Croatian and won four games in a row. The final result of the match was 6-4, 3-6, 5-7. Nevertheless, one has to congratulate Petra for a great result in Paris.
Here are the official highlights of the Martić – Svitolina match:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyfTbqCxA5M
Marin Čilić faced the South African Kevin Anderson on the same court, just a few hours later. He went on to take the first set after he lost the first couple of games 6-3. At the beginning of the second set, Anderson took a medical time out due to a muscle injury, and after Čilić had won the first three games, it was evident that he was not capable of continuing the play.
Anderson retired, and Čilić qualified for his first Roland Garros quarter-finals ever. His opponent there will be one of the best players in the World, in particular on the clay-court; Stan Wawrinka.
