(CNN) — The shocks at the World Cup have made their way over to Wimbledon, with last year’s finalist Marin Cilic the latest casualty.
Given his form and his nation’s performances in Russia, a World Cup and Wimbledon double on the final Sunday couldn’t have been discounted for Croatia but one half of the equation was nixed Thursday when Cilic blew a two-set lead and fell to world No. 82 Guido Pella of Argentina 3-6 1-6 6-4 7-6 (7-3) 7-5.
The match resumed following rain Wednesday with Pella leading by a break at 4-3 in the third and incredibly, he never lost the momentum. Five years ago at Wimbledon, he experienced much different emotions, stretchered off with a leg injury in a fifth set.
“Today when we came back, obviously he served two good service games in that third set, came back two sets to one,” Cilic told reporters. “Obviously a little bit different situation.”
Cilic said a slip on the grass Wednesday didn’t affect him, nor the pressure of being one of the men’s favorites.
“I was just not feeling as comfortable as yesterday with hitting,” he said. “I was not as accurate. I was just missing some balls, some easy balls, giving him a chance to come back. That was playing a part.
“It was not just the pressure. It was me not executing on the court well.”
Latest upset
The third seed’s departure followed losses by pre-tournament women’s favorite Petra Kvitova, former champion Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki, although the Dane faced the ever dangerous Ekaterina Makarova.
Cilic’s exit is arguably the most unexpected.
He defeated Novak Djokovic to win a Wimbledon warmup in London last month and the players to have toppled the 29-year-old on his last five visits to SW19 are among the best performers tennis has ever produced: Andy Murray, Djokovic (twice) and Roger Federer (twice).
Even though Federer downed Cilic in the 2017 finale, he’ll be relieved to see the 2014 US Open winner depart from his half of the draw.
In their last six matches, Cilic won one and four went to a deciding set, including this year’s Australian Open final. The blowout last year at Wimbledon could be attributed to Cilic’s foot blisters.
Cilic will probably be asking himself for days how he lost to Pella, who owns no career titles and entered Wimbledon with two main-draw wins on grass in the top tier. Neither was at Wimbledon.
“Well, I was looking for this match for years, but I never expected it to be here in Wimbledon against Cilic,” said Pella, whose sister Catalina is ranked 300th on the women’s tour. “That was the biggest surprise for me, because this is the third time I come here, the first time I win a single match in the main draw, and it was a big surprise.
“But I’m really, really happy, because I prepare myself very good to this tournament.”
Cracked
Yes, Wednesday’s pause gave the 28-year-old a sliver of hope but Cilic still led by two sets. And the Croat relinquished a 3-1 lead in the fourth. In the turning point of the fifth, Pella saved three break points at 2-2.
Serving second in the decider, Cilic eventually cracked, especially his less steady forehand wing.
Although Cilic saved two match points at 4-5 with thunderous serves, there was no such respite at 5-6.
It felt like he would escape when Pella ballooned a second-serve return long on the third match point but — after Cilic earned a game point — the left-hander completed the upset thanks to a forehand into the net by the Croat.
Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal moved a step closer to reaching a first Wimbledon quarterfinal since 2011 when he saw off the big-hitting Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4 6-3 6-4.
The match was relatively straightforward for the 17-time grand slam winner, although he received a pair of time violation warnings from a chair umpire he has clashed with in the past, Carlos Bernardes.
Nadal and the chair ump
Three years ago in Rio, Bernardes, said Nadal, forced him to change his shorts — which were upside down — on court instead of somewhere more private.
“I make a mistake, I put my shorts the other way,” Nadal said. “You cannot force me to change my shorts in front of everybody, you know. For me, that’s not respectful.”
Nadal however had no major problems with Thursday’s rulings by Bernardes.
Three-time champion Djokovic also progressed in straight sets, 6-1 6-2 6-3 over Pella’s compatriot, Horacio Zeballos, even after hurting his knee in the third set.
“I’ve been doing checkups now,” said the rejuvenated Djokovic. “It seems like it’s nothing major. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll see on the practice session how it feels. Hopefully it’s going to be fine.”
The Serb, in a rarity, was placed not on Centre Court or Court 1 but Court 2 for the first time in about a decade. He wasn’t fussed.
If Bernard Tomic defeats Kei Nishikori, he would meet Nick Kyrgios in a battle of Australians who’ve courted controversy. Kyrgios struck 19 aces in downing Robin Haase 6-3 6-4 7-5 but was hit with a code violation by chair umpire James Keothavong, which might have been for bad language, reported AAP.
Keothavong, at one stage, also left his chair to explain the foot fault rule to the 15th seed after he had been called for multiple foot faults.
Women’s French Open winner Simona Halep won the last 10 games of her match with Zheng Saisai to advance 7-5 6-3 while qualifier Eugenie Bouchard will leave Wimbledon with momentum despite a 6-4 7-5 loss to Ash Barty in a battle of former Wimbledon junior champions.
Bouchard, the 2014 Wimbledon finalist, won four straight matches at any level for the first time since 2016.
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