Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic were handed a huge boost to their French Open chances as their main rival for the trophy was knocked out of the competition. Daniil Medvedev was among the favourites to win in Paris, but suffered a straight sets defeat at the hands of Marin Cilic on Monday night.
The Russian was powerless to resist as his opponent cruised into a two-set lead, barely having to break a sweat as he did so. The result was put almost beyond all doubt as the Croatian broke the number two seed twice in quick succession at the start of the third set.
Medvedev finally offered some resistance while 4-0 down, serving as quickly as he could and looking like he was determined to offer one final piece of resistance. He won that game to hold his serve, but it wasn’t enough to spark an unlikely comeback and the excellent Cilic finished the job to seal his place in the last eight of the competition.
The exit of the second seed clears a path for one of Nadal and Djokovic, who are among the other favourites to take the Roland Garros title. That pair, who boast 41 Grand Slam titles between them, face each other on Philippe-Chatrier in a huge quarter-final clash on Tuesday in a match which may decide who wins the whole tournament.
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While Cilic was certainly deserving of his lead, secured in swift fashion, he was helped to do so by some sloppy play from his opponent. That was typified by the point which handed the first set to the Croatian, as Medvedev double-faulted to give it away without Cilic having to do anything.
There wasn’t much more resistance offered in the second set either, as the Russian left himself with a mountain to climb. He had already lost the first 2-6, and managed only one game more this time as Cilic kept his tight grip on the contest and dominated with a serve that Medvedev struggled to read throughout the evening.
A player of Medvedev’s calibre can never be counted out of the possibility of coming back to win from two sets down, but that was never going to happen here. Cilic was playing too well, and the world number two looked out on his feet and frustrated by his inability to match the 20th seed.
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Medvedev handed a break point to his opponent straight away with another double fault which proved costly. He saved that first break point, but lost the game from deuce to give himself even more of a mountain to climb if his French Open campaign was going to continue.
Not content with just the one break, Cilic won his opponent’s next service game as well to really stamp his authority on the match. He also made sure to hold his own, to build a 4-0 lead which looked, and proved to be, unassailable.
The writing was on the wall and it wasn’t too much longer until Medvedev’s tournament was over in a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 defeat to the world number 23. It was all over in less than two hours, and the result was the heaviest defeat Medvedev has ever suffered in a Grand Slam.
After another surprising exit from Alexander Zverev in the early rounds of this tournament, things are opening themselves up nicely for King of Clay Nadal or his 2021 conqueror Djokovic. Others in the tournament still have a chance, including teenage sensation Carlos Alcaraz, but Medvedev’s exit makes it only more likely that the French Open will be won by the man who comes out on top of their quarter-final clash on Tuesday night.
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