Cilic Fends Off Bublik, Advances to Ninth Queen’s Club QF

Two-time Queen’s Club champion Marin Cilic advanced to his ninth quarter-final at the Cinch Championships with an entertaining 7-6(6), 7-5 victory against Alexander Bublik on Wednesday.

Seventh seed Cilic battled back from an 0/5 hole in the opening-set tie-break by turning the tables to win the final five points, saving three set points from 3/6 in the process. He pressed home his advantage by taking a 3-0 lead in set two before Bublik got himself back in the match with his unique brand of shotmaking, complete with a bevy of underarm serves.

“The most important thing against Alexander is to keep focus,” Cilic said post-match. “You never know what’s coming. He made it a little bit crazy in the second set and out of nowhere started to do these underarm serves and slices and drop shots, just breaking up the rhythm. He broke me there, so it was not comfortable to play [at the] end of the second set.”

Bublik used two underarm serves to escape 0/30 at 0-3 and later broke Cilic to love to get back on serve. But the Croatian stuck to the task and clinched the match with his second break to avoid another tie-break and a possible third set.

“It’s unconventional tennis that he plays, and he’s quite good at it,” Cilic said of his opponent. “Great serve and then backs it up with some of those things. Never easy, especially on a grass court, the ball stays low. Most importantly, I kept my focus and I served well at the end of the second set, and that was the key.”

Cilic improves to 34-11 at The Queen’s Club, where he won the title in 2012 and 2018 and reached the final in 2013 and 2017.

Emil Ruusuvuori awaits in the quarter-finals after the Finnish qualifier defeated #NextGenATP Briton Jack Draper, 6-2, 7-6(2) earlier on Wednesday. Draper made headlines in his home nation with a first-round win over fourth seed Taylor Fritz but could not find an answer against the smooth game of Ruusuvuori. 

The 23-year-old saved the only break point he faced in the match while converting on seven of his nine chances.

Currently at a career-high of No. 56 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Ruusuvuori’s London quarter-final run has moved him up nine places to No. 47 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.