2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament: Marin Cilic off to a good start
Marin Cilic from Croatia made his debut at the 2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament when he played against qualifier Mischa Zverev for their first round match on Monday. The 38th edition of the indoor hard-court tournament is the first Association of Tennis Professionals 500 level tournament of the season and it is played annually at the Ahoy Rotterdam indoor sporting arena in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Currently ranked 28th in the South African Airways ATP rankings, Cilic had little difficulty doing away with 81st ranked Zverev. The Croatian wrapped up the match in 63 minutes, as the hard-hitting debutant was able to enjoy a straight sets win over Zverev.
In what was their first ever meeting on the tour, Cilic dominated the courts from the start, landing an impressive 81 per cent of points on first serve as compared to the German Zverev’s 65 per cent. Cilic converted two of seven break points and lost only four points on service to ensure a 6-2 win for himself in the first set.
Although the second set saw a drop in Cilic’s first serve percentage to 65 per cent, he still managed to win 88 per cent of the points on it. After holding Zverev down to 19 points and losing only five points on service, Cilic was able to successfully convert the only break point opportunity as he clinched a 6-4 victory for himself in the second set.
Cilic served a total of five aces as compared to Zverev’s none and lost only nine of 47 points on service to advance to the second round to play fifth-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer.
After his unsuccessful first round exit at the 2011 Aircel Chennai Open where he was the defending champion, and a quarterfinal exit at the 2011 PBZ Zagreb last week, Cilic has to make it to a few finals on the tour before he reclaims his position in the Top 10. A fourth round exit at the hands of Rafael Nadal in the Australian Open currently puts Cilic at a 7-3 win-loss mark for the year.
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