Cilic brings up 100 as he makes quarter-finals
21 Jan 2018 4:35 PM GMT
Melbourne: Croatia's Marin Cilic won his 100th Grand Slam match as he mastered Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta in four sets to reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open on Sunday.
The former US Open champion won the big points in putting away the 10th seed 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/0), 7-6 (7/3) in 3hr 27min on Margaret Court Arena.
He will face world number one Rafael Nadal in the quarters on Tuesday. Nadal leads 5-1 in their matches.
"I'm enjoying how I'm playing. Playing well. I did good in the off-season and those things are paying off on the court," Cilic said.
"It gives me good confidence, good excitement on the court, when you are winning the matches, it just pushes you a little bit more, knowing that you believe in the things that are working.
"I'm not taking for granted making the second week of a Grand Slam, I'm just trying to use the opportunities the best I can."
Cilic reached the last eight in Melbourne for the second time and also claimed his 11th Slam quarter-final to equal Goran Ivanisevic's record for appearances at that stage of the majors by a Croatian man.
The Croat won two of the three tiebreak sets and was superior to Carreno Busta in the pressure moments of the round of 16 match.
"There were lots of ups and downs and Pablo gave me a lot of trouble in that third set where he was twice a break up and it was difficult mentally," Cilic said.
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