Rublev Faces Cilic in Miami Open Quarterfinals
03.29.21
By Daniel Perissé
Russian Andrey Rublev and Croatia’s Marin Cilic won their third-round matches this Monday, March 29th, and will play for a spot at the quarterfinals at the Miami Open presented by Itaú.
On Grandstand, Rublev defeated Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 6-2, 6-1 in 52 minutes. With today’s result, the World No. 8 reached 18 wins this season. This was their third meeting this month, and the Russian won all of them in straight sets.
On court Butch Buchholz, Cilic needed 75 minutes to beat Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 6-4. This is the fourth time that the Former World No. 3 reached the fourth round in Miami.
Rublev leads the all-time head-to-head series, 2-1. They played at the 2019 Miami Open, in the second round, and the Russian won 6-4 6-4.
“It’s going to be a tough match, for sure, because I played him many times. We know each other really well, and all the matches were like a drama, always mental things. Marin has a really great serve, and from the baseline he doesn’t give you rhythm because he goes for the shots. So, it’s not the kind of player who stays on the baseline and gives you rhythm and play rallies. I have to be the one who is going to be dictating”, affirmed Rublev.
Elsewhere, Canadian Milos Raonic defeated France’s Ugo Humbert 6-4, 7-5 and booked a meeting in the fourth round with Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, who prevailed against Canada’s Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 7-6(6). The 2021 Delray Beach Open champion won his sixth consecutive match in American soil this season.
