LONDON, June 24, 2018
No. 1 seed Marin Cliic claimed his second title at the Fever-Tree Championships following his triumph at The Queen’s Club in 2012. The 29-year-old from Croatia battled past Novak Djokovic 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3 in Sunday’s singles final.
Cilic fired 18 aces, broke serve one time and saved one championship point at 5-4 in the second set to prevail after two hours and 57 minutes.
It’s a second #QueensClub title for @cilic_marin!
He saves a championship point and defeats Novak Djokovic 5-7 7-6(4) 6-3 #QueensTennis pic.twitter.com/NductjQz7A
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) 24. Juni 2018
“Last year I had a match point and I didn’t convert it and this year Novak had it,” Cilic said during his on-court interview.
“I was just trying to stay in it, it was tough. I had no break of serve until the last game, I am relieved to win it. I had a great time this week.
“I waited six years and lost twice in the final in those six years but it is always a pleasure to play here.”
Djokovic, who competed at The Queen’s Club for the first time since 2010, was seeking his 69th ATP World Tour-level title. The Serbian’s record in tour-level finals against Top 10 opponents falls to 47-27.
“He deserved to win,” Djokovic said. “It’s a tough loss for me today, obviously. But I have to see it from a positive side. I haven’t played a final at any event in almost a year, so this felt great.”
Later in the afternoon, Henri Kontinen from Finland and Australian John Peers took the doubles crown. The No. 2 seeds defeated Briton Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares from Brazil 6-4, 6-3 in exactly one hour of play.
