Marin Cilic says he is ready to take on the challenge of Andy Murray – Tennis News
Croatia’s flag bearer at the Wimbledon Championships, Marin Cilic, has vowed that he is ready to face the home favourite, Andy Murray, in their fourth round encounter at the All England Club on Monday.
Ranked 18th in the world, Cilic needed five hours and 31 minutes to win the second longest match in the history of Wimbledon Championships against Sam Querrey in the third round.
The Croatian lost his two-set lead but then bounced back to win a marathon decider and with it the contest 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-7 (3-7), 17-15.
While giving an interview to the media, Cilic said, “I will definitely be ready to go. I’m a little bit fatigued but in terms of recovering my energy, I feel I’m going to be OK, because I don’t feel any soreness in my muscles.”
He added, “This was my longest match, but we didn’t have too many rallies that were physically tough. There was a lot of serving and exchanges of one or two shots. It was more a case of walking in the match for that long. Now,
I just need to try to eat as much as I can.”
When Cilic was asked what he will have in the breakfast, after he had missed both of his lunch and dinner while playing the marathon match, he replied, “Carbohydrates. That’s the only way to get things back to even.”
The Croatian went on to say that it would be pasta or rice, as he did not have any other option. The 6ft 6in tall added that such long matches take a lot of toll on the players.
Murray also made history in his third round contest against Marcos Baghdatis, as their match became the latest-finish at the Wimbledon. The Brit won race against time, as he defeated Baghdatis in four sets 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 in
match that ended at 11:02 in the night.
Cilic and Murray have faced each other six times prior to this on the ATP World Tour. The Brit has won five of those six matches, with the first one of them being on the grass courts.
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