Cilic routs Medvedev in straight sets to reach French Open quarter-finals

A final spot from the bottom half of the French Open draw was already completely up for grabs even before play began on Monday.

Now the opportunities are endless — at least for the four remaining players in that section. After 2021 runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas lost to 19-year-old Holger Rune, world No 2 Daniil Medvedev crashed out at the hands of Marin Cilic during the night session. Cilic engineered a surprising 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 fourth-round rout of the 2021 US Open champion, requiring only one hour and 45 minutes.

The 33-year-old Croat, ranked No 23, will face Russian Andrey Rublev, the No 7 seed, in the quarter-finals

⚡ A lightning-fast three set win by No.20 @cilic_marin tonight:#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/vkEWoNVcvc

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2022

The 33-year-old Croat beat Hungarian Attila Balazs (6-0, 6-1, 6-2), Hungarian Marton Fucsovics (4-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3) and Frenchman wildcard Gilles Simon (6-0, 6-3, 6-2) prior to Monday. So even before the result against Medvedev he had been in borderline dominant form.

For the second seed, he could not have seen this coming. After all, Medvedev had also been dominant throughout week one. In the previous rounds he won against Argentinian Facundo Bagnis (6-2, 6-2, 6-2), Serb Laslo Djere (6-3, 6-4, 6-3) and in-form Serb Miomir Kecmanovic, the No 28 seed (6-2, 6-4, 6-2).

Nothing forecasted Medvedev’s swift demise. Then again, nothing about the bottom half of the draw has been expected.

Other men’s singles results on Sunday and Monday:

• Andrey Rublev beat Jannik Sinner (11): 1-6, 6-4, 2-0, ret.
• Holger Vitus Nodskov Rune beat Stefanos Tsitsipas (4): 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Casper Ruud (8) beat Hubert Hurkacz (12): 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
• Carlos Alcaraz (6) beat Karen Khachanov (21): 6-1, 6-4, 6-4
• Alexander Zverev (3) beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles (Q): 7-6 [11], 7-5, 6-3
• Rafael Nadal (5) beat Felix Auger-Aliassime (9): 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
• Novak Djokovic (1) beat Diego Schwartzman (15): 6-1, 6-3, 6-3

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