Marin Cilic commits for the Aircel ATP Chennai Open – Tennis News
Croatian number one, Marin Cilic, has committed to participate at the Aircel Chennai Open 2013 in India, an ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 Series event taking place in India.
The 2009 and 2012 titlist, Cilic was seeded fourth last circuit. However, patella tendon injury forced him to pull out from not only this tournament but also from the Australian Open, first of the four Grand Slam events held in Melbourne.
Ranked 15th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Cilic conquered the local star, Somdev Devvarman, in 2009 and triumphed over the Beijing Olympics’ gold medallist, Stanislas Wawrinka, in 2010.
The Croat was quoted in a press conference: "I am delighted to be back in Chennai, especially since I could not participate in last year's event due to an injury. I have chosen to start my five previous seasons here and have had great success as a lead up
to the Australian Open. It is always a pleasure to play in Chennai, a city that has grown to become a home away from home for me."
After recovering from his injury, Cilic found his rhythm at the BMW Open in Munich. He breezed past his opponents before bowing out to fourth seed Philipp Kohlschreiber in the final showdown.
In the grass court season, the Croat maintained his intensity at AEGON Championships in Queens Club. He cruised into the final four without losing a set. In the semi-finals, Cilic outshined Sam Querrey in a three-set thriller before registering a 6-7(3),
4-3 retirement victory against 10th seeded David Nalbandian in the final round. As a result, Cilic captured his eighth career title and first year-to-date title.
He kept momentum rolling at the Wimbledon Championships where he made a fourth round showing (lost to runner-up Andy Murray).
The Croatian star went berserk at his home soil tournament in Umag the following week. He cruised past his rivals in straight sets and eventually grabbed his second year-to-date title at the Studena Croatia Open.
The CEO of Tamil Nadu Tennis Association, Hiten Joshi, said: "It is a privilege to have Marin Cilic back for the 2013 edition.”
Cilic will be joining the likes of the Czech number one Tomas Berdych and the world number nine, Janko Tipsarevic. The Swiss ace, Wawrinka will also accompany the Croat in the 32-man main draw of this opening tournament of the ATP World Tour 2013.
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