Cilic Continues Impressive Queen’s Club Record

Marin Cilic maintained his love affair with the Cinch Championships Friday, moving past Finnish qualifier Emil Ruusuvuori 7-6(2), 6-4 to reach the semi-finals in London for the sixth time.

The Croatian lifted the trophy at the ATP 500 grass-court event in 2012 and 2018 and has now earned 35 wins at The Queen’s Club, the most of any active player.

In a hard-fought clash on centre court, Cilic was the more proactive player. The 33-year-old hit 11 aces and fired his flat groundstrokes with precision to outmanoeuvre Ruusuvuori and advance after one hour and 48 minutes in their first ATP Head2Head meeting.

“I am taking it step by step. I am trying to keep my form up and my level,” Cilic said after claiming his 80th grass-court win. “Every match is a challenge. I am focusing and taking it step by step. Getting to 80 wins did not come overnight. It took a lot of years and training and matches. Hopefully there will be many more wins.”

The seventh seed, who arrived in London off the back of a first semi-final appearance at Roland Garros, is seeking to win his 21st ATP Tour title this week, but first of the year.

Cilic will continue his trophy bid when he plays Filip Krajinovic in the semi-finals on Saturday.

Earlier, the Serbian ended British wild card Ryan Peniston’s dream run when he overcame the 26-year-old 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in two hours and nine minutes.

Krajinovic had not earned a tour-level win on grass before this week, but will now compete in his second semi-final of the season, having also reached the last four in Montpellier in February. The 30-year-old beat Americans Jenson Brooksby and Sam Querrey this week in London.