Cilic adds to his 2012 title as Djokovic fails to claim his first ATP title since Eastbourne in his 99th tour level final
Sunday 24 June 2018 19:32, UK
Marin Cilic saved a match point to claim a famous victory in the Fever Tree Championships at Queen's Club as the top seed edged out Novak Djokovic over a gruelling three sets on Sunday.
The Croatian earned redemption for last year's defeat at the hands of Feliciano Lopez with a stunning 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 comeback victory against the former world No 1 on Sunday.
"Last year I had a match point and I didn't convert it and this year Novak had it," Cilic said during his courtside interview.
"I was just trying to stay in it, it was tough. I had no break of serve until the last game, I am relieved to win it. I had a great time this week.
"I waited six years and lost twice in the final in those six years but it is always a pleasure to play here."
Cilic was on the verge of a third loss in the Queen's final when Djokovic held a match point in the second set. But the world No 6 survived and then stormed back from 4-1 down to take the second set tie-break.
The 29-year-old then powered through the deciding set to leave Djokovic shell-shocked as won the Wimbledon warm-up event for the first time since 2012.
Cilic has been in ruthless form this week and last year's runner-up made it into his fourth final at the tournament by steamrollering his way through his half of the draw.
However, the Croatian was surprisingly profligate early on and despite coming through a marathon seventh game he failed to convert six break point opportunities overall in a 69-minute opening set. In the end, Djokovic made the former US Open champion pay by striking with his third set point in the 12th game.
Cilic was forced to dig deep to save a match point with a brave first serve out wide at 4-5 in a second set which went to a tie-break.
Djokovic had lost just two points on serve in the entire set, but it was Cilic who was determined to get his hands on the trophy and bravely rallied from 1-4 down in the breaker to win six points in a row and send the match into a deciding set.
The Serb has endured a barren 12 months due to a combination of a nagging elbow injury last year and poor form in 2018. Not since he won the grass-court event at Eastbourne 12 months ago has he made it to the last day of a tournament.
But it was Cilic who produced a moment of quality to tee up the only break of serve at 4-3.
Chasing down a wide ball, the Croatian fired a stunning forehand winner that left Djokovic applauding. He then served it out to love to claim his second title at Queen's.
With Wimbledon starting on July 2, Cilic will be relishing the prospect of going into a tournament he reached the final at 12 months ago only to suffer from blisters in a heart-breaking loss to Roger Federer.
Our next tennis action comes from the German Open in Hamburg. Watch the action live on Sky Sports Arena from Monday, July 23 from 10am.
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