'I played that kind of tennis the whole match, and especially the fifth set was an incredible battle… A lot of heart, and one had to go down. “It comes from being me,' said Cilic when asked about his aggressive approach to the tie-break, in which he won nine straight points from 1/2.

2 Daniil Medvedev as “one of the best matches of my career from start to finish” - and the Croatian’s confidence was clearly demonstrated in the way he took the deciding tie-break out of Rublev’s hands at the tail-end of an almighty tussle with a sequence of searing winners. Rublev 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(10-2)Īs two of the most fearsome forehands on Tour clashed at the beginning of June on the Roland Garros clay, an extraordinary sequence of clean hitting from Marin Cilic in the deciding-set tie-break clinched a thrilling quarter-final against Andrey Rublev.Ĭilic came into the match in a confident mood - he had described his fourth-round triumph in Paris against World No. 1 and US Open winner Carlos Alcaraz, and Australian Open and Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal.ĥ. Today we reflect on five of the most memorable Grand Slam battles of the year, featuring World No.

’s annual season-in-review series looks back at 2022’s best matches, biggest upsets, most dramatic comebacks and more.

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