Marin Cilic ousts Pablo Andujar in round three – Western and Southern Open 2012
Seeded 12th in this event, Marin Cilic from Croatia trashed the Spanish contender, Pablo Andujar, in straight sets at the Western and Southern Open 2012 on Thursday. He penned down a 7-6(4), 6-2 success against the world number 40 to advance into
the quarter-finals at the Lindner Family Tennis Center located in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The Bosnia and Herzegovina-born Cilic fended off early resistance to outlast Andujar in their first outing. After earning the success in two hours and 10 minutes, Cilic edged in the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head series by 1-0
against the 26-year-old and progressed into the final eight at this Emirates Airline US Open Series event.
Cilic entered this Masters 1000 series in high spirits. He drew the first blood in the fourth game and leaped to a 3-1 lead. The Croat lost his track afterwards and went 3-5 down after losing his serve twice. However, Cilic not only recovered in the 10th
game but dominated in the tie-breaker to click the opener with a 7-6(4) win.
Ranked 15th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Cilic went out of control in the follow-up set. He blasted powerful groundstrokes to reel off the opening three games. Despite losing his serve in the fourth game, the Croat remained
focused and carved out a 6-2 success after capitalising on another break chance in the seventh game.
The Monaco resident prevailed throughout the epic encounter. He dusted away only one out of four breakpoints he faced but cashed in five out of nine break chances. Cilic also took full advantage of eight double faults the Spaniard spilled and smacked six
aces.
Next challenge for Cilic is the second seed, Novak Djokovic, who toppled Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko to set up this clash. The Serbian ace was leading 6-0 when his opponent was forced to retire due to a shoulder injury.
The defending champion, Andy Murray, became casualty of the day. He crashed out to the French lucky loser, Jeremy Chardy, in straight sets in one hour and 38 minutes. The Olympic Champion cashed in two out of seven break chances but was broken four times,
eventually exiting from the tournament with disappointment.
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