BNP Paribas Masters; Preview of the concluding match on Thursday
The third seed Andy Murray and Marin Cilic of Croatia will square off for the concluding match of the day at the 2010 BNP Paribas Masters Men’s singles tournament on Thursday. The number one Scott leads the pair’s head to head encounter at 4-1 on the ATP
World Tour. Cilic’s only victory came in the fourth round of the year’s final Grand Slam, the United States Open in New York, however, Murray avenged the defeat with a four-setter win in the final four at Australian Open back in January.
Both of them have been to the quarters here before as Murray reached the final eight back in 2007 and 08, whereas Cilic advanced into the quarters last year.
The 23-year-old Murray is playing in Bercy on the fifth occasion in a row. His best results are back-to-back final eight appearances in 2007 and 2008 before losing to Richard Gasquet and David Nalbandian respectively. Murray who made his debut in Paris back
in 2006 couldn’t go beyond the third round last year.
Currently ranked number four in the South African Airways ATP list, the Scott, is attempting to make his way into his tenth quarter-final or better in 2010 and enters with a win loss mark of 43-15 on the season. Murray won his first career ATP World Tour
doubles crown just a week ago along with his brother Andy Jamie at the Valencia Open.
The right hander also grabbed his sixth career ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy last month at the Shanghai Rolex Masters in China after getting the better of world number two Roger Federer in the final. Murray who did not miss a single set in five clashes
in Shanghai enjoys a mark of 2-2 in the title battles this season.
The top ranked Brit is one of the five players on the ATP World Tour to successfully qualify for the season-ending finale in London. Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Robin Soderling have already made it into the elite eight man field.
The Zagreb native, Marin, on the other hand is attempting to make his way into the quarter final on the second occasion in a row. He reached the third round in Paris after getting the better of Sergiy Stakhovsky on Wednesday in a three-setter clash. The
final match score was 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.
He finished last year as a quarter finalist here before losing at the hands of Gael Monfils of France in three sets. The right hander thrashed out the then world number eight Fernando Verdasco 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final eight back in 2009.
Cilic posted his best result of the season by winning a title in Chennai after getting the better of Stanislas Wawrinka in straight sets. Few months later, he also captured another crown in Zagreb, beating Michael Berrer in the final.
His other notable performances in 2010 include a title battle appearance in Munich, two semi-final showings in Australian Open and Washington and three quarter final appearances in Dubai, Metz and Vienna.
The top Croatian tennis ace on the ATP World Tour comes in with a win loss mark of 40-21 on the year. He is 2-4 against the top foes in 2010 and is looking to make his way into his ninth quarter-final or better of the season. Cilic achieved his career high
ranking of world number nine earlier this year in February.
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