Marin Cilic outplays Janko Tipsarevic to end his title drought – St. Petersburg Open 2011
Croatia’s number one, Marin Cilic, finally ended his title drought for the year after defeating world number 13, Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia, in the final of the St. Petersburg Open on Sunday evening.
Breaking into the Top-20 after his win, Cilic battled hard for two hours and eighteen minutes of play to settle the final scores at 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, to claim the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 title.
The final show down was staged at the indoor hard courts of Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex in Saint Petersburg, Russia, with the fourth seeded Croat devastating the hot favourite Tipsarevic in three sets. The second seeded Serb came to Saint Petersburg after winning the Kremlin Cup title in Moscow last week but he squandered away a vital opportunity on Sunday evening to strengthen his chances of making it to the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Cilic took off the contest in an aggressive fashion and blew away his Serb opponent to get one up early in the game. Tipsarevic made a valiant come back in the following set to draw the competition back on even terms but Cilic turned the tables on him in the final set to come out as the winner.
“It was a very good match at a high level. I managed to push myself into a higher gear in the last set,” said Cilic. “I was close in my other finals [this year] and I think I learned a little bit from them. Today, that pushed me and in the third set, I played my best tennis of the season.”
The two men met earlier this season in the Miami Masters, where Tipsarevic outclassed Cilic in straight sets but the Serbian failed to repeat the similar performance on Sunday evening. Cilic’s victory extended his all-time head-to-head series against Tipsarevic by 6-1, diminishing his chances to reach the mega event in London in November.
“Marin deserved to win. He was the better player today,” assessed Tipsarevic. “In order to beat Marin, you need to play a certain style of game and for me it was really tough. I gave everything I had in the second set and beginning of the third set. I didn't manage to make a break and after that, I went completely down.”
Tipsarevic is currently holding the number 10 spot in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Year-To-Date Rankings, with only three vacant spots for qualifying for the ATP World Tour finals.
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