Roger Federer (8) meets Marin Cilic in the second round round of the 2021 French Open on Wednesday, June 2nd 2021.
Will Marin Cilic be able to get revenge for the many defeats he suffered to Federer in big matches or will Federer come out here and get a big win under his belt to continue improving his confidence and momentum during his comeback on the tour?
Marin Cilic was able to come through a great match in the first round, beating Arthur Rinderknech in 3 sets 7-6/6-1/6-2. Marin showed great power and considstency on his first serve, whilst his second serve was a bit wonky and he would only win around 50% on his second serve. Marin will now want to use that win to continue improving his game and get some momentum going in what has been a tough season in terms of consistency. However, he meets a player he has struggled a lot against in Roger Federer.
Roger Federer also cruised through his first round match, beating the big server Denis Istomin in 3 sets 6-2/6-4/6-3. Istomin was never able to get anything going in the match as he was constantly pulled towards the net where he was uncomfortable as he is more of a big serve and big forehand type of player. Roger Federer will be happy that he did not lose a single set here, but he knows that things will not be as straight forward here against Marin Cilic in this second round match.
This is going to be the 11th meeting between both players, with Marin Cilic having only won once against Roger Federer. Both players will be happy with their first round performances and they will want to build upon that. However, both players are also very tough to beat. I expect for this to be a tight match where both have chances to win. But at the end of the day, Roger Federer’s name, momentum, determination, and experience will be too much for Marin Cilic, and we will see a big win for Federer here in Paris to give us hope.