Those who may have dismissed the Queen’s Club event after the top seeds were bounced, missed an opportunity to watch outstanding tennis. In fact, the overall quality of all matches played at Aegon was in a word, “superior.”

Semi-Final 1: Marin Cilic versus Gilles Muller

Semi-Final Saturday kicked off with Marin Cilic taking on “late bloomer” Gilles Muller. Muller won his 1st ATP title in 2017 down under in Sydney and a 2nd in the Netherlands a week ago at s-Hertogenbosch.  The 1st title arrived after 16-years of hard work and it seems to have launched a platform to thrive again at Queen’s Club. A semi-final result is evidence to that fact.

Cilic had held near perfect form all week in both singles and doubles with partner Marcin Matkowski of Poland. Cilic, the 2012 Queen’s Club champion, did not face a break point until today. All due credit to Muller who took the 2nd set, 7-5 to keep alive his title dream.

And, after 1 hour and 32 minutes, they started anew with the prize open to anyone. Cilic was more animated on Saturday than in prior matches. He celebrated points won with an audible “got it!” throughout the match. Both players applied equal pressure during the contest serving a combined total of 42 aces (20-Cilic and 22-Muller). Finally, in game 7, Cilic found his opening and captured the break to take a 4-3 advantage. His next service game began with a double-fault but he righted the ship to hold, 5-3. Muller did his job well with another ace to hold at 5-4 but Cilic, on serve for the match, was daunting. Six points and two aces later, he advanced 6-3 5-7 6-4.

When asked about this audible tactic in press, the Croat shared that this was a way of keeping himself focused and alert on every point. He, also, expressed confidence that going into Wimbledon, he now believes anything is possible. With the Big-4 in a less “typical” form, 2017 seems to be an open door that was been shut for about a decade, that Cilic could enter.

Semi-Final 2: Feliciano Lopez versus Grigor Dimitrov

The second semi-final would not disappoint.  Lopez started and ended strong. He took the 1st set 7-5 just before the rains came adding to an already dramatic match.

When the players returned to complete the second set, the battle raged on as though play was never suspended. Dimitrov defended well in a 16-point service game and held to 2-2 in a, quite literally, most important game. Had Lopez broken to go up a set and a break, the immediate future might have been bleak.

As the match progressed, the Bulgarian raised the level of his service return while Lopez remained steady. During the 8th game of the set, Dimitrov pressed the Spaniard to a 10-point service game and earned the break to go to 5-3. Minutes later he capitalized on the momentum, and served out the set with back-to-back aces at 6-3.

Back to square one, Lopez kicked off the 3rd set with a love hold. He would hold serve more easily than Dimitrov but credit to the Bulgarian who defended yet another 16-point game closing with an ace to go to 2-2. In game 6, Lopez found an opening after a 10-point exchange. The silence was deafening with Dimitrov in real danger now, 4-2 in favor of Lopez. He rode the momentum dropping only one point to move to 5-2. While Dimitrov won the ace contest 16 to 4, he could not find the big guns at the critical moments. Lopez pressed taking the 1st two points of his next service game. With the cards stacked against him, Dimitrov kept trying to solve his opponent but could not and the match went to Lopez, 7-5 3-6 6-2.

During a key game in the deciding set, in a very kind gesture, Lopez told Dimitrov to challenge a call, breaking the notion that nice guys finish last. Great sportsmanship all around today. Given the quality of play by both finalists this week, Sunday will be a clash of titans.

The Sunday Final Brass Tacks

The men’s singles final is scheduled to begin at 2 PM sharp.

In a schedule kink, the doubles semi is yet to conclude due to rain delays that pushed completion out of the Saturday window with the loss of daylight. For Cilic, the schedule is tricky but he does not seem concerned.  In press, he confirmed, not surprisingly, that singles are his priority.

So, for doubles fans, it’s a blockbuster Sunday. After the singles final, the in-progress doubles semi-final between Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares vs. Marin Cilic and Marcin Matkowski will complete.  At sundown Saturday, the 1st set went to Cilic-Matkowski 6-1 but Murray-Soares we back on top 5-3 in the 2nd. So much the like singles semis on Saturday, this is still anyone’s match.

Waiting for the winners, with no doubt a Cheshire cat grin, are the French duo of Julian Benneteau and Edouard-Roger Vasselin. While sometimes it is better to be lucky than good, good will be on the agenda on Sunday, as well.