Marin Cilic announced on Friday that he would have to withdraw from the Mutua Madrid Open 2019 due to illness. Cilic was scheduled to play the World No. 1, Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the Mutua Madrid Open 2019. Cilic withdraws from the Madrid Open for the second consecutive year as he had pulled out of the event in 2018 due to a knee injury.

Marin Cilic announced the sad news on Twitter. He said, “Dear fans,  Mutua Madrid Open organizers, Novak Djokovic, I am sorry to announce that I must withdraw from today’s match. I have had a terrible night dealing with a case of food poisoning. I am extremely disappointed to have my time in Madrid end in this way. Thank you for your support.

As a result, the Serb gets a walkover to the semifinals of the Mutua Madrid Open 2019. The Croatian struggled to reach the quarterfinals as he had to play three-setters in his opening rounds. Marin Cilic conquered all his 3 matches at the Mutua Madrid Open 2019 in the final set.

Seeded 9th at the Mutua Madrid Open 2019, Cilic had to go through a tough test in his opening round against Martin Klizan. He defeated Klizan 6-4, 2-6, 7-6. The Croatian lost the first set against Jan-Lennard Struff in the round of 32. But he came back stronger in the next two sets and went through to the 3rd round of the Mutua Madrid Open 2019.

In the third round, Cilic again lost the first set against Laslo Dere but he came back into the match to set up a quarterfinals battle with Novak Djokovic. Djokovic also gets a day off from a hectic schedule with the withdrawal of the Croatian.

This could have been the 20th match between the two with the Serb leading their head-to-head 17-2. Marin Cilic had never defeated Djokovic on clay before. The World No. 1 will face either Dominic Thiem or Roger Federer in the semi-finals of the Mutua Madrid Open 2019.