It was far from easy going for the Olympic gold medallist who had to fight back from a break and 5-1 down in the second set to clinch this taught quarter-final. Cilic, who had won only one of the last seven meetings between the pair, raced into a shock lead, winning the first set 6-3 and taking a 5-1 lead in the second.
Murray though, displaying resolve and discipline that has, in previous years, been absent from his game, fought back to claim the second set 7-6 on a tie break. He then found his stride and stormed through to take the third set 6-2 and the fourth and final set to love, winning 17 of the last 20 games.
“He played very well at the start and I struggled,” Murray told The Guardian of his disastrous opening to the match. “When I managed to get the breaks back in the second set I relaxed a little bit. I’ve been in that position before. It was nice at the end when the court filled up.”
Next up for Murray is Tomas Berdych in the semi final.
Photo: Getty.
