2011 BNP Paribas Open – ATP Seeds Part XV: Marin Cilic
World Number 20 Marin Cilic
With his current high ranking, Croatian tennis pro Marin Cilic concludes the Top 20 Players on the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings. The right-handed player is 22 years old, and joined the ATP Tour circuit in 2005.
He has been playing tennis in a professional capacity since 2005. His highest ranking ever is World Number 9, and he is coached by Bob Brett. He has been seeded 17th at this year’s BNP Paribas Open.
The Croatian tennis player has taken part in the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Indian Wells event thrice before, making his debut at the tournament in 2008. He was ranked World Number 45 at the time, and joined the event as a main-draw
participant. He made it past the first round against Japanese pro Kei Nishikori, but was ousted by compatriot Ivan Ljubicic in the second round.
Cilic was ranked World Number 19 the next time the Indian Wells event was held, and began his run as a seeded player with a bye into the second round. He defeated then-World Number 104 Steve Darcis in three sets to proceed to the
second round, where he was ousted by Spanish pro Tommy Robredo, who was ranked World Number 15 at that time.
His last showing at the tournament was in 2010, when he was ranked World Number 9. The player received another bye in the first round, moving directly to the second round against then-World Number 49 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez. Despite
his lower ranking, the Spanish tennis pro managed to defeat Cilic in straight sets, even scoring a bagel during the victory.
This is the third year in which Marin Cilic has entered the Indian Wells event as a seeded player. His furthest run at the tournament was in 2009, when he made it to the third round before suffering defeat. The Croat has repeated
this performance in 2011, defeating Frenchman Florent Serra in the second round to secure his place in the third round of the event. He will be facing Swiss tennis player Stanislas Wawrinka in his third round match. Wawrinka is seeded twelfth at the tournament,
and received a bye in the first round. His first match at the event was against Russian tennis player Nikolay Davydenko, whom he ousted in three gruelling sets.
The Croatian player has had a good run lately, defeating players like Mikhail Youzhny and Tomas Berdych to set up a title match meeting with Robin Soderling at Marseille. Although he could not win the title, he did not seem fazed
and went on to defeat Germans Florian Mayer and Philipp Kohlschreiber in his two singles rubbers at the first round of the 2011 Davis Cup.
He is expected to perform well in his third round match against Wawrinka at Indian Wells, although an outcome is not clear at this point.
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