A few weeks ago in Adelaide, Marin Cilic became the 40th man in the Open Era to reach 550 career tour-level wins, and now he’s hit another milestone in Melbourne.

With his electric 7-5, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3 victory over No. 5 seed Andrey Rublev in the third round of the Australian Open on Saturday night, Cilic is now through to the round of 16 at a Grand Slam for the 25th time in his career.

He’s the 20th man in the Open Era to do it, and just the seventh active male player.

ACTIVE MALE PLAYERS WITH 25+ SECOND WEEKS AT GRAND SLAMS:
69: Roger Federer
56: Novak Djokovic
51: Rafael Nadal
38: Andy Murray
28: Stan Wawrinka
25: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
25: Marin Cilic

Broken down, Cilic’s 25 second weeks at majors include eight at the Australian Open, five at Roland Garros, six at Wimbledon and six at the US Open.

The 2014 US Open champion and former No. 3’s win over the No. 5-ranked Rublev was also his 12th career win over a Top 5 player, and fifth at a major:

~ d. No. 2 Murray in 2009 US Open 4th Rd, 7-5, 6-2, 6-2
~ d. No. 5 Del Potro in 2010 Australian Open 4th Rd, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3
~ d. No. 3 Federer in 2014 US Open SFs, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4
~ d. No. 1 Nadal in 2018 Australian Open QFs, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 2-0 ret. (leg injury)
~ d. No. 5 Rublev in 2022 Australian Open 3rd Rd, 7-5, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3

Advertising