Defending champion Novak Djokovic beat Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Wednesday to reach the semifinals of Wimbledon and earn his 650th win in ATP World Tour match.
The top seed will face No. 21 seed Richard Gasquet.
“I am hopeful that I need additional equipment,” said Djokovic. “I hope you can come out now in the semifinals, most important [the] parties [the] final stages of the tournament.”
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In recording his 50th win at Wimbledon, the World No. 1 it reached its 27 Grand Slam semifinals and took the exclusive property of the fourth on the list of most of the major semi-finals in the Open Era behind Roger Federer (38), Jimmy Connors (31) and Ivan Lendl (28).
A volley winner gave Djokovic the break for a 2-1 lead early. The Belgrade native need four set points to take a one-game lead in the 35th minute.
In the ninth game of the second set, Djokovic managed to earn three break points. The Croat saved the first with an ace, but a backhand cut into the network gave the top seed in the break for a 5-4 lead. Serbian served the set at 30 after 39 minutes, capitalizing on his first set point.
A forehand error from Cilic gave Djokovic a fundamental break for a 4-3 lead in the third set. The rest was again all that he did in the third set as Djokovic went on to serve 15 victory after one hour and 49 minutes.
“I think I was playing pretty well during the tournament and I appeared in a couple of games that my game is really in a good way,” said Cilic. “I’m pretty satisfied with my form, with the tournament overall.
. “In general, [am] looking ahead positively is a shame to lose in quarters; it is quite deep in a tournament Given that was also playing good tennis … I was looking forward to today for a better fight.”.
Djokovic improved his wide lead over Cilic in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 13-0.
“I came at the right intensity, moved well around the court, tried to get as many returns back in the game,” said Djokovic. “I will not allow Marin to return to the game. It was a close game when serving for the set. I think that helped my confidence to feel better afterwards.”
