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Match details
Fixture: (2) Daniil Medvedev vs Marin Cilic
Date: 3 July 2021
Tournament: The Championships, Wimbledon
Round: Third round (Round of 32)
Venue: London, Great Britain
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Grass
Prize money: £17,066,000
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel & ESPN | UK - BBC TV & Radio | India - Star Sports / Disney+ Hotstar VIP
Daniil Medvedev vs Marin Cilic preview
Daniil Medvedev swept past Spanish prodigy Carlos Alcaraz in his second-round match on Thursday, winning 6-4, 6-1, 6-2. Medvedev is now into the third round at SW19 for the third time in his career, which is also his best result at the grasscourt Slam.
The Russian's next opponent is Marin Cilic, who outlasted Benjamin Bonzi 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5) in his second-round match on Thursday.
Medvedev played like a man possessed against Alcaraz, who was making his Wimbledon debut. The 25-year-old wrapped up the win in a mere 95 minutes, while dropping his serve just twice.
Daniil Medvedev won a whopping 95% of his first-serve points on Thursday. And he was equally strong in his return games as he created 15 break points, out of which he converted seven.
The Russian struck 20 winners overall, including six aces, and committed a measly 12 unforced errors.
Marin Cilic, however, didn't have such an easy time against Benjamin Bonzi, who briefly outserved the big-serving Croat. Cilic managed to win 76% of his first-serve points, which is not a big number given his reliance on that shot.
Cilic was also outdone in the ace department, as he struck 16 of them to Bonzi's 19.
The former US Open champion struck 60 winners in the match, but undid a lot of his good work by committing 53 unforced errors. A similar count against Medvedev would likely prove to be very costly for Cilic.
Daniil Medvedev vs Marin Cilic head-to-head
Daniil Medvedev leads Marin Cilic 1-0 in the head-to-head. Medvedev and Cilic had faced each other at Washington in 2019, where the Russian won in straight sets.
Daniil Medvedev vs Marin Cilic prediction
Daniil Medvedev heads into his clash against Marin Cilic as the firm favorite, especially since he seems to have finally found his footing on grass. The Russian's mammoth serve and flat groundstrokes have reaped rich rewards on the skiddy surface so far this week, and will likely continue to do so.
Cilic will not make things easy for the Russian though. The Croat is a former runner-up at Wimbledon, and he knows his way around a grasscourt.
But Cilic has lost some of his foot speed due to age, and could struggle to defend against the angles created by Medvedev. The best bet for the 32-year-old would be to serve as well as he can and take a set or two to a tiebreaker, where he will fancy his chances against the Russian.
All things considered, however, Medvedev's superior baseline game is likely to eventually break through Cilic's defenses and give him passage to the last 16.
Prediction: Daniil Medvedev to win in four sets.
