Enjoyed every second: Marin Cilic enters fourth round of Australian Open after 5th seed Rublev

Marin Cilic brought back the memories of his fans when he defeated 5th Andrey Rublev in a high-octane third round match of the Australian Open on Saturday. Cilic, who was killing his winners at will, defeated the Russian star 7-5, 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-3 in 2 hours and 37 minutes to reach the fourth round.

Cilic, the 2014 US Open winner and former Melbourne Park finalist, registered his second win over a Top 10 opponent since 2018 as he pulled off a major upset at the Australian Open.

The 33-year-old from Croatia, who defeated then world number 9 Roberto Bautista Agut at the Australian Open in 2020, made it to the Round of 16 for the 8th time in the first Grand Slam of the season.

“It’s unbelievable,” Cilic said in an interview on the court after defeating Rublev.

“I enjoyed every single second of the match. Andrey is an incredible player, we have played many times in the past and it is always difficult. I had a lot of fun and played great tennis.”

Feedback for admin for GIF? done friend @cilic_marin #os open #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/4WGWEbMCWK

— #AusOpen (@Australian Open) 22 January 2022

Cilic, who is only one of three Grand Slam winners left in this year’s men’s singles draw, will face Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliasime, who defeated Dan Evans in straight sets on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, world number two Daniil Medvedev entered the second week with a dominant straight-sets win over Netherlands’ Boutik van de Zandschulp on Saturday. Joining Russia in the fourth round, fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated Frenchman Benot Paire in four sets at Melbourne Park.