It took until the fourth round, but now it’s the high-profile men who are leaving Roland Garros.
No. 2 Daniel Medvedev lost 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 to No. 20 Marin Cilic in a match between the last two U.S. Open champions at Court Philippe Chatterjee.
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“It was one of the best matches of my career, from start to finish,” Cilic said after the win.
Medvedev joins No. 4 Stefanos Sitsipas, last year’s runner-up, on his way out of the bracket. Sitsipas lost to 19-year-old Unseeded Dan Holger Rune.
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Only three of the top 10 female seeds in this year’s tournament advanced to the Round of 32, all of the top 12 did. And all of the top eight men were in the fourth round.
Medvedev is the current US Open champion but was 0-4 to Roland Garros until he reached the quarter-finals a year ago. This time, he won each set until the game against 2014 US Open champion Cilic, who reached his third quarter-final in 16 games in Paris.
Silik’s next opponent is number seven Andrei Rublev. They will play each other on Wednesday night, with a semifinal spot.
A one-sided draw will eventually give Roland-Garros a more unexpected chance of reaching the final.
It has been a staggering year to date to reach the final four after defeating Rune Stefanos Sitsipas, who missed a huge opportunity to capitalize on the weak side of the draw.
It took a staggering few months for Rune, who won his first match against one of the top five players when he defeated Alexander Zaverev at the Munich Open in April.
He will play Norway’s Caspar Rudd after defeating 23-year-old Hubert Hurkaj of Poland 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
The winner of Cilic vs. Rublev will face the winner of Rune vs. Rudd, while this year’s champion at Roland-Garros is expected to come from another direction, with Djokovic, Nadal, Xavier and Carlos Alcaraz all finally competing for a place.
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