In a battle between two of the best grass-court players in the world, Marin Cilic rallied from match point down to edge Novak Djokovic in a thriller of a final at the Fever-Tree Championships on Sunday.
After 11 straight holds to start the match, it was Djokovic who drew first blood, getting the first break of the match to sneak out the first set, 7-5. Not after some resistance, though—Cilic actually fought off Djokovic’s first two set points with forehand winners before netting a backhand on the third set point.
After another nine straight holds to start the second set Djokovic pounced again, bringing up a match point with Cilic serving at 4-5, 30-40—the Croat swatted it away with a massive service winner out wide and then ripped two more huge first serves to hold for 5-all. He wasn’t out of trouble yet; he fell behind 4-1 in the tie-break that followed, but he won six points in a row to take the match to a third.
Neither player budged on serve in the third set until Cilic broke Djokovic for 5-3, and the World No. 6 emphatically served the match out at love for a two-hour-and-57-minute 5-7, 7-6 (4), 6-3 victory.
“Last year I had a match point in the final and didn’t convert, and this year Novak had it, but I was just trying to stay mentally in it,” Cilic said after the match. “It was an extremely tough match today. There were no breaks for me until the end. I’m just so relieved that I won it. I’ve had such a great week.”
WATCH—Championship point from Cilic's win over Djokovic in London:
