ATPTour.com’s annual season-in-review series looks back at 2022’s best matches, biggest upsets, most dramatic comebacks and more. Today we reflect on five of the most memorable Grand Slam battles of the year, featuring World No. 1 and US Open winner Carlos Alcaraz, and Australian Open and Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal.
5. Roland Garros, QF, Cilic d. Rublev 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(10-2)
As two of the most fearsome forehands on Tour clashed at the beginning of June on the Roland Garros clay, an extraordinary sequence of clean hitting from Marin Cilic in the deciding-set tie-break clinched a thrilling quarter-final against Andrey Rublev.
Cilic came into the match in a confident mood — he had described his fourth-round triumph in Paris against World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev as “one of the best matches of my career from start to finish” — and the Croatian’s confidence was clearly demonstrated in the way he took the deciding tie-break out of Rublev’s hands at the tail-end of an almighty tussle with a sequence of searing winners.
Marin Cilic” />
Photo Credit: AFP/Getty Images.
“It comes from being me,” said Cilic when asked about his aggressive approach to the tie-break, in which he won nine straight points from 1/2. “I played that kind of tennis the whole match, and especially the fifth set was an incredible battle… A lot of heart, and one had to go down. Today was my day, but Andrey also played an incredible match.”
Cilic had to dig deep after a fast start from Rublev on Court Philippe Chatrier, where the Croatian opted to meet the seventh seed’s forceful groundstrokes with plenty of power-hitting of his own. He finished the match having struck a remarkable 88 winners, including 33 aces, in an epic four-hour, 10-minute triumph.
The win made 33-year-old Cilic the fifth then-active player to reach the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams, alongside Roger Federer (now retired), Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
4. Roland Garros, SF, Nadal d. Zverev 7-6(8), 6-6 (RET)
It may seem unusual to declare a match that potentially wasn’t even halfway done when halted by injury as one of the best of the season, but such was the quality of tennis that Rafael Nadal and Alexander Zverev produced in their Roland Garros semi-final clash that it remains a must inclusion.
“I’m 25. I am at the stage where I want to win,” Zverev had said prior to his meeting with the then-13-time champion Nadal on Court
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