Tomas Berdych and Marin Cilic will take on each other at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in the quarterfinals of the 2014 US Open on Thursday night.
Sixth seed Berdych defeated Australian prodigy Dominic Thiem 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 to reach the last eight. The Czech has had a good outing at the Flushing Meadows so far and has seen off opponents with ease, except for the second round match against Martin Klizan of Slovakia, who pushed him all the way to a five-setter.
Berdych, a semifinalist here two years ago, will be banking on his powerful and accurate forehands, which saw a comeback to form of sorts in this tournament, to cause Cilic trouble. The 28-year-old had lost to his Croatian opponent at this year's Wimbledon and is more than aware of what is coming his way on Thursday.
"Yeah, I think we gonna have some lights here, so that's gonna be good and we can finish it in the good way. It's going to be nice, I would say, rematch. Marin played really a good match [in the fourth round] especially," Berdych pointed out.
"You know, he's improved a lot I would say this year, and really he's playing well. But, yeah, I'm hitting the ball nice and clean. That's what I need. That's what's good for my game. I save a bit of energy today, which is good, compared to him. Let's go for another one."
Cilic, on the other hand, had to pull out all the stops to see off the challenge from 26th seed Gilles Simon of France in the fourth rood, winning 5-7, 7-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to set up the meeting with Berdych.
The Croat has improved a lot of late and has been more consistent this year than ever. And having always produced his best performances at the US Open, the 14th seed will fancy his chances tonight, against the man he defeated at the All England Club a couple of months ago.
"Yeah, we played in Wimbledon not too long ago. I mean, Tomas is very dangerous player. He's very consistent throughout the year. He's always pushing you to play your best to actually beat him. I hope I'm going to be on a good level of tennis if we gonna match up," the 25-year-old stressed.
"Definitely very interesting too. I mean, for me as well he's not unbeatable, but definitely very tough task. But for quarterfinals in a major, I think for both of us is good opportunity."
Where to Watch Live
The quarterfinal clash is scheduled to start around 11pm IST (12.30pm EST, 6.30pm BST). Live coverage in India will be on Ten Sports while the live streaming option is HERE. International viewers can catch the action for free HERE or listen to the action free HERE.
Eurosport will broadcast matches live in Europe. Viewers can also live stream the action HERE. US viewers can catch the match on Sky Sports 3 or via live streaming HERE. Listen to the action live online on BBC HERE. Catch the action live on ESPN and CSB Sports in the United States or watch online via live streaming HERE or HERE.
