Cilic and Nadal will meet on Friday in the quarterfinals of ATP Rome with Nadal a crushing favorite.
Rafael Nadal and Marin Cilic are scheduled to meet today in the quarterfinals of the 2011 Rome Masters. Cilic enters the quarterfinal as the survivor from what has to be considered a weak section of the draw.
The Croat defeated Mardy Fish in the round of 16, a player who is not known for clay court success, but what really diluted the talent near Cilic was the early withdrawal of David Ferrer and the substitution of lucky loser Carlos Belocq.
If Ferrer was at his best, one would fully expect him to be playing Nadal today instead of Cilic and perhaps that's a stroke of luck for Nadal as it should lead to an easier match on Friday.
Nadal and Cilic have only met twice and Cilic did take down a win at Beijing 2009 on the hard court surface. However that match was played at a time when Nadal was below his normal standard and Cilic was starting to get to his peak.
Lately the Croat has been a disappointment as much more was expected of him by now after he cracked the top 10 in April of last year. Currently ranked 23rd, Cilic is definitely dangerous but he has not turned in impressive clay court results so far this season.
In Madrid, Cilic lost to a fatigued and less than 100% Juan Martin Del Potro after losing early in both Munich and Monte Carlo.
Nadal, although he was not great to open the tournament against Paolo Lorenzi, corrected his form with a great match against Feliciano Lopez in the third round. With the upset loss to Roger Federer on Thursday the world number one seems to have a pretty clear path to the Rome Masters final.
Cilic and Nadal will meet today on central court not before 2pm CET today. Prediction: Nadal in straight sets (1/5 with
bet365 for a 2-0 victory).
