Marin Cilic upset world number 6 Andrey Rublev 7-5 7-6 (7-3) 3-6 6-3 after 2 hours and 37 minutes to advance to the fourth round at the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Cilic went into the match with just one win in his previous 15 matches against top 10 players and had lost his previous four head-to-head matches against Rublev.
The Croatian player recorded just his second top 10 win since 2018. That year he reached his first final at the Australian Open finishing runner-up to Roger Federer.
Cilic earned the first break in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. Rublev pulled back on serve in the seventh game to draw level to 4-4. Cilic earned his second break in the 12th game.
The second set went on serve en route to the tie-break. Cilic got two mini-breaks to take a 5-2 lead. Rublev pulled one break back for 3-5, but Cilc fired down a powerful serve to earn a set point and sealed the tie-break 7-3.
Rublev saved three break points to hold serve in the first game of the third set. Cilic broke serve in the third game and held serve to take a 3-1 lead. Rublev came back by winning five consecutive game with two breaks in the sixth and eighth games to take the third set 6-3.
Cilic earned a break point in the fourth game of the fourth set, as Rublev hit a forehand into the net. The Croatian player converted it to open up a 3-1 lead and held serve with his 20th ace.
Cilic brought up two match points in the ninth game with a slice and sealed the win with an ace down the middle.
Cilic was strong on serve and fired 24 aces, as he won 85% of his first serve points.
“It’s incredible. I enjoyed every single second of the match. Andrey is an incredible match. We have played several times in the past and it is always difficult. I had so much fun and I played great tennis. The conditions in the evening were a bit cooler and allowed me to go more for my shots and I was really lining up a lot of them, especially the returns, it was really going well for me today. I am feeling excited, I am playing amazing and I am just looking forward to the next match, which gets tougher and tougher with the opponents, but I will try to give it my best”, said Cilic.
Cilic has improved his head-to-head record to 2-4 against Rublev and will take on Felix Auger Aliassime, who beat Daniel Evans 6-4 6-1 6-1.
