World number one Novak Djokovic has entered the Madrid Masters 2019 semi-final after his opponent Marin Cilic withdrew from their encounter.
Cilic suffered food poisoning the previous night and did not deem himself fit to feature in the contest against the top seeded Serb. He apologised to the fans and opponent Djokovic on Twitter.
Dear fans, @mutuamadridopen organizers, @DjokerNole I am sorry to announce that I must withdraw from today’s match. I have had a terrible night dealing with a case of food poisoning. I am extremely disappointed to have my time in Madrid end in this way. Thank you for the support.
— Marin Cilic (@cilic_marin) May 10, 2019
The pair was about to play in their 20th encounter, with Djokovic going into the match as a huge favourite with a 17-2 head to head record against the Croat. Cilic had shown a lot of determination in overturning a three-match losing streak coming into the Madrid Masters, and winning three in a row.
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The ninth seeded Cilic defeated Martin Klizan, Jan-Lennard Struff and Laslo Djere in three sets apiece to get to the quarter-finals having also had to save match-points in previous matches.
What this means is that the two-time Madrid Masters winner Djokovic will face either the fourth-seeded Roger Federer, or fifth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem in the semi-final. Thiem starts off a favourite against Federer in their quarter-final which will be held later today.
The other quarter-finals of the day will see Rafael Nadal taking on Stan Wawrinka and Alexander Zverev playing Stefanos Tsitsipas for a place in the last four.
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