21 year old Croatian Marin Cilic defeated American Andy Roddick in 5 sets, 7-6(4), 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3 in 3 hours and 50 minutes. This match featured peaks and valleys by both players in an exciting quarterfinal. Cilic himself best described this match to ESPN’s Darren Cahill in the following excerpt:

Cahill: “Marin, into your first major semifinal, incredible match, how does it feel?”

Cilic: “Well first it wasn’t easy to get to the quarterfinals and today was a tough match mentally for me, Andy’s playing really good and with his big serve its never easy to always to be able to play your game, to go for your shots, you gotta be a little safer, and it wasn’t easy. I was a little bit nervous in the beginning and that took some energy out of me. I think those third and fourth set he started to play much better and in the fifth set was a little mental. When I saved three break points in the first game [fifth set] it was a little bit of a relief.”

Cahill: “Did it throw you off a balance a bit in the third and fourth set because Andy changed his game? He was much more aggresive. You had gotten off to a quick start with the two set to love lead, did that throw you a little bit?”

Cilic: “I lost a little bit of my balance on the court. I didn’t really know what to do, but I gathered my thoughts and I just started to, in fifth set to play point by point, try to get on the scoreboard, try to be there with him, to stay with him and eventually I got my chance. [smiling] And I’m happy about that.”

FUTURE OUTLOOK: Cilic has now played 3 five set matches, however, he’s only 21 and his young legs will help him in the semifinal. He faces the winner of the Nadal/Murray quarterfinal. Cilic will clearly be the underdog against either opponent. Cilic continues to gain invaluable experience for future runs at Grand Slam titles, but his next match will be the end of his journey at the 2010 Australian Open.