page_title: Marin Čilić
section_title: 2009: First Grand Slam quarterfinal
hierarchical_section_title: Marin Čilić / Tennis career / 2009: First Grand Slam quarterfinal
caption_attribution_description: Marin Čilić against Alberto Martín in the 2009 Wimbledon Championships first round
context_page_description: Marin Čilić is a Croatian professional tennis player. Over the course of his career, Čilić has won 18 ATP Tour singles titles, including a Grand Slam title at the 2014 US Open. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 3, achieved on 28 January 2018. Čilić first came to international prominence by defeating world No. 2 Andy Murray in the fourth round of the 2009 US Open, and then reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open a few months later. He was also runner-up at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and the 2018 Australian Open, losing to Roger Federer both times. Čilić has reached at least quarterfinal in all four major tournaments, and has made it to at least that stage at 13 different Grand Slams. He is known for his fast serves and powerful ground-strokes.
  Čilić started to develop his career at a young age; his first steps of tennis started in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His potential was discovered by local hometown coaches who saw him play and encouraged his move to Zagreb for further training. He was soon befriended by his countryman to be Goran Ivanišević, who introduced him to coach Bob Brett.
context_section_description: Čilić won his first title of 2009 and second career ATP title at the Chennai Open, defeating first-time finalist Somdev Devvarman.
  He reached the fourth round of the Australian Open after beating David Ferrer in straight sets, equalling his 2008 record. In the fourth round, he was defeated by Juan Martín del Potro in four sets.
  Later in the year, Čilić won the PBZ Zagreb Indoors, defeating compatriot Mario Ančić in the final.
  He helped his country defeat Chilean opponents in the Davis Cup first-round tie by winning the opening singles match and joining forces with Mario Ančić to win the doubles rubber.
  Čilić reached a career best at the French Open when he beat 18th seed Radek Štěpánek in the third round in straight sets. After two competitive sets against the third-seeded Andy Murray, Čilić lost the match.
  He reached the second round of the Queen's Club Championships, an ATP World Tour 250 series event, where he was defeated by Nicolas Mahut of France. He beat Alberto Martín to make it into the second round at Wimbledon and won a five-set match (spread over two days) against Sam Querrey. He played another five-set match in the third round against Tommy Haas. He recovered from two sets down, but lost 10–8 in the deciding set, having held a match point.
  During the hard-court season, Čilić was defeated in back-to-back events in the first round. At Washington, he was defeated in straight sets by Somdev Devvarman. He then failed to duplicate his quarterfinal appearance in Canada, losing to Mikhail Youzhny. In the US Open, as the 16th seed, he reached the fourth round, after defeating Ryan Sweeting, Jesse Levine, and Denis Istomin. He defeated Levine after being down two sets to love, coming back to win. He then scored the biggest upset of the 2009 US Open with a straight-sets victory over second-seeded Andy Murray in the fourth round. Čilić outclassed Murray by saving all the break points he faced and took advantage of Murray's unforced errors. After the match, he said it was the biggest win of his career to date. However, in the quarterfinals, he lost to the eventual champion Juan Martín del Potro, despite leading by one set and an opening break in the second set.
  Following his impressive US Open run, Čilić participated in the China Open in Beijing as the eighth seed. He won his opening match against Russian Igor Andreev, followed by a three-set victory over Frechman Julien Benneteau. In the quarterfinals he defeated fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko, before stunning world No. 2 and top seed (in the tournament) Rafael Nadal in a straightforward win. In the final, Čilić went down to second seed Novak Djoković in straight sets.
  He reached the fifth final of his career at the Bank Austria Tennis Trophy as top seed; however, he lost. He received a wild card for the Davidoff Swiss Indoors, where he finished in the quarterfinals, losing to Radek Štěpánek. His final tournament of the year was the BNP Paribas Masters. Entered as 12th seed, he came from a set down to defeat Łukasz Kubot in the second round, and then from a set down again to defeat seventh seed Fernando Verdasco, before coming to a halt in the quarterfinals against eventual finalist Gaël Monfils.
caption: Čilić at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships
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