By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, November 4, 2016
Marin Cilic stunned Novak Djokovic, 6-4, 7-6 (2), earning his first career win over the four-time Paris champion and putting Djokovic's No. 1 ranking in peril.
Photo credit: Corinne Dubreuil/FFT
Facing Novak Djokovic frustrated Marin Cilic into futility of mythic proportions.
Winless in 14 career meetings with the world No. 1, the towering Croatian resembled a tennis Sisyphus rolling the rock up the hill only to see it all come crashing down in another defeat.
Not this time.
Watch: Cilic Books London Spot
Blasting back at misery with bold drives, Cilic dethroned three-time defending champion Djokovic, 6-4, 7-6 (2), buzzing into the Paris Masters semifinals for the first time.
The upset snapped Djokovic's 17-match winning streak in Paris and puts Andy Murray one win away from surpassing the Serbian for world No. 1.
World No. 2 Murray will rise to No. 1 by beating either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Milos Raonic in Saturday's semifinals.
Barking at himself between points, a stubborn Murray fought off seven sets points defeating Tomas Berdych, 7-6 (9), 7-5 in the second quarterfinal.
The 29-year-old Scot is bidding to become the second-oldest man to debut at No. 1. Australian Hall of Famer John Newcombe was 30 when he attained the top spot on June 3, 1974.
Ultimately, the year-end No. 1 ranking will come down to the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Serving at 5-6 after failing to serve out the set, Djokovic denied two match points waving his arms and exhorting the crowd to erupt as he forced the tie break.
Unfazed by the sound and fury, Cilic unleashed three missile service winners taking a 6-2 tie break lead then closed in style. Cilic made a slick pick-up of a ball on the baseline, opened the court with his forehand then spun an inside-out forehand winner to end it.
Cilic, who beat Kei Nishikori in the Basel final on Sunday, scored his eighth consecutive victory.
No one beats Marin Cilic 15 times in a row.
The ninth seed used his wide wing span crunching nine of his 27 winners off the forehand wing. Djokovic, who hit 15 winners, did not play poorly, but was tentative at times playing down the middle too frequently and was his own worst enemy missing his first serve on crucial points.
An inability to dent Djokovic's lock-down defense, inefficiency to match the elastic Serbian in running rallies and struggles to win free points on serve against a sniper returner are some reasons why Cilic suffered career-long misery to Djokovic.
For the second straight match, Djokovic was playing catch-up in the first set. Prodding a forehand error, Djokovic broke back then held at love to level, 2-all.
The second serve has long been a barometer of Djokovic's confidence level and it was flagging today.
Stepping into a second-serve return, Cilic took charge of the point then jolted an inside-out forehand winner for set point in the 10th game. Cilic missed the mark with an inside-out forehand.
A netted forehand gave Cilic a second set point. Trying to avoid the sidelines by centering the ball, Djokovic paid the price when Cilic crunched an inside-out angled forehand, drawing the error to snatch the 45-minute opening set. Cilic more than doubled the top seed's winner output, 14 to 6.
It was the first set Cilic took from Djokovic since the 2014 Wimbledon quarterfinals, snapping a slide of 12 straight sets.
Djokovic dodged a double break point dilemma in his opening service game of the second set working through a tough hold when Cilic netted a drop shot.
Asserting his forward movement, Djokovic earned double break point in the next game only to see Cilic bomb some of his biggest serves of the day to detonate the threat.
Dialing in the depth of his returns, Djokovic drilled through to triple break point in the ninth game. When Cilic slapped a backhand into net, Djokovic had the break.
After playing a superb return game, Djokovic sputtered on serve double faulting to go down double break point. Missing his first serve when he needed it most, Djokovic dumped successive double faults capping a horrid game to give back the break for 5-all.
Two games later, Djokovic missed a couple of forehands for double match point.
Deploying a surprise serve-and-volley on a second serve, Djokovic nudged a backhand volley to save the first match point.
Putting a second serve into the middle of the box, Djokovic dug in and denied some intense pressure during the ensuing 19-shot exchange saving the second match point with a twisting forehand off the sideline.
Beckoning the crowd to make some more noise after the great escape, Djokovic guided a backhand down the line to hold to force the tie break.
At that point, the reigning Roland Garros champion had the momentum, but Cilic took charge of the tie break with his serve.
Cilic slashed successive service winners for 4-1. Reading the wide serve, the 6'6" Croatian ripped a beautiful angled forehand return that sent Djokovic scurrying off the court for 5-2. Hovering on the baseline, Cilic refused to give an inch stepping into to hit a sweeping forehand winner that closed an impressive one hour, 44-minute victory.
Lethal-serving John Isner awaits Cilic in the semifinals. The 28-year-old Croatian has won all six meetings with Isner, including a straight sets win on hard court in the Davis Cup quarterfinals during the summer.
In a battle between the two top-ranked Americans, Isner swatted 17 aces holding off sometime doubles partner Jack Sock, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-4, in two hours, 17 minutes.
The 27th-ranked Isner is into the semifinals for the first time in five years.
"I'm very excited to be back in the semifinals. I'll be ready for tomorrow," Isner told Tennis Channel's Leif Shiras afterward. "Things have finally started to click for me here. I love the conditions here. I love the surface. I love everything about this tournament. I guess better late than never for me and I am happy to be in the semis."