AUSTRALIAN OPEN
Venue: Melbourne Park Date: 18-31 January
BBC coverage: Every Murray match live on BBC 1 or 2
Daily from 0800 GMT: live on BBC Red Button/website, 5 Live sports extra
Daily from 0000 GMT: text commentary on BBC Sport website
 Cilic is into a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time in his career |
Marin Cilic held off an Andy Roddick fightback to win their quarter-final in five sets at the Australian Open. The Croatian 14th seed was on course for a comfortable win at two sets up as Roddick struggled to cope with a shoulder problem. But the American seventh seed hit back to force a decider, only for Cilic to seal a 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 3-6 2-6 6-3 win. Cilic plays Andy Murray in the semi-final after Rafael Nadal retired hurt from his quarter-final against Murray. After taking the first set on a tie-break, Cilic had a scare when he collided with a line judge in the second, but he regained his composure to clinch a crucial break of serve in the fourth game that proved enough for the set.  | 606: DEBATE |
Despite his injury, Roddick then staged a brave comeback, overpowering his opponent in the third set and racing into a 5-0 lead in the fourth. Cilic at least managed to break and then hold his serve to get on the scoreboard in the set before Roddick won it to set up a decider. But the American ran out of steam, allowing his opponent to open up a 5-2 lead, and when a Roddick backhand went wide the win was confirmed. That win took the Croatian's record for the year so far to 10 wins out of 10, and also saw him reach a Grand Slam semi-final for the first time, his previous best being a run to the last eight at last year's US Open. "It wasn't easy. I got experience of it during the week," said Cilic following his third five-set win of the tournament. "I just had a few extra gears in the last set. It wasn't easy when he started to play a lot better. "I really struggled on my serve and he put a lot of pressure on me and I didn't know what to do. "But I just took it point-by-point... and then I got the break." Roddick admitted the injury had been causing him problems before the match, and had prevented him having "the full deal" against Cilic. "I felt it a little bit the other night, the cold weather, trying to hit through those for a little while. I didn't hit yesterday," he said afterwards. "Felt pretty good today in warm-up, the first couple games, then I think I aggravated something. "The trainer said it was stemming from the neck down. By the end of the first set, I was pretty numb in the bottom two fingers. "I could still hit it pretty hard, I was just having trouble controlling it. I didn't really have full deal."
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