TennisSection previews the 2021 French Open as Roger Federer (8) meets Marin Cilic in the Round of 64 on Thursday, June 3rd 2021.
Will Marin Cilic be able to get revenge for many of the defeats he suffered in the hands of Roger Federer in his prime? Will Roger Federer come through a very tough challenge early on in his Roland Garros campaign? Both players have a lot of experience in big tournaments and they have both faded from their primes in the last few years. Which one of these big name players will make their way to the Round of 32 here at Roland Garros 2021?
Marin Cilic showed a solid game in his opening round match here at the 2021 French Open, beating the local French wildcard, Arthur Rindrknech, in straight sets 7-6/6-1/6-2. Marin was struggling a bit with consistency in the first set as he was trying to get a feel for the energy levels of the Frenchman. Once he was able to come through that tight first set, the momentum and energy went away from Arthur, and Marin Cilic was able to cruise away with the rest of the match. Marin Cilic will now have to ensure his game is at its best as he meets the one and only Roger Federer in the Round of 64 here at Roland Garros, and I am sure that he will be determined to get the win.
Roger Federer came back for his first Grand Slam match in over 460 days in style, by beating the qualifier, Denis Istomin, in straight sets 6-2/6-4/6-3. Roger Federer was trying a lot of different tactics to understand how he needs to adapt his game at his age to still remain competitive. This resulted in many dropshots, chipped returns, and short balls being hit by the Swiss in order to bring his opponent in from behind the baseline and have to play defensively. Roger is going to be definitely happy with this performance, and I am sure he will want to build on this. However, Federer now meets Marin Cilic and he will have to ensure he plays even better than he did against Istomin.
Roger Federer and Marin Cilic have met 10 times before, with Roger Federer leading the head to head 9-1. They last met in 2018 at the Australian Open where Roger Federer won a very tight 5-set match in the Final to claim his 20th and latest Grand Slam title 6-2/6-7/6-3/3-6/6-1. I am sure that loss in the Final will still hurt Marin who knows that he could have won it if he played a bit better. Because of this, I think Marin will come into this match with a chip on his shoulder aiming to get the win. However, Marin and Roger are not as good as they used to be. It will be a long match, but I think the crowd, and the experience of Federer, will allow him to prevail, only slightly here at the 2021 French Open.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Roger Federer in 5 Sets.
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