Marin Cilic outplays Sergei Bubka in the first round clash – St. Petersburg Open 2011
Croatia’s number one, Marin Cilic, registered a comprehensive victory against Sergei Bubka of Ukraine in the opening round of the St. Petersburg Open on Tuesday evening.
The fourth seeded Cilic took one hour and fifty one minutes of play to wrap up victory in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6(1), to make it to the second round of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 250 event.
The contest was staged on the indoor hard courts of the Petersburg Sports and Concert Complex in Saint Petersburg, Russia, with the world number 22 displaying his dominance to drive Bubka out of the competition in the very first
round. The Ukrainian played brilliant tennis in the qualifying draw of the tournament but couldn’t carry on his momentum in the main round, suffering an early exit at the hands of the fourth seed.
It was Cilic’s 39th victory of the running year, with 20 defeats already to his name. The Croat made it to the semi-finals of the St. Petersburg Open in 2007 but his current form suggests that he intends to go even further
this time round. Cilic has already appeared in the finals of three ATP World Tour events this season but is still having a title drought so far.
Bubka remained very competitive throughout the contest and fought valiantly before submitting in the second set tie breaker. He secured 37 out of 52 first serve points in the game, with the Croatian following him at 29 out of 39
to come out as the winner. Cilic converted two of his eight break opportunities in the matchup while denying Bubka five out of six times to register a break of serve.
Action took off right from the opener, with Cilic stinging his first break point of the day in the third game to lead 3-1 early in the contest. Bubka nailed his only serve break of the match in the sixth game but a crushing break
point conversion from the Croat opponent sealed off the first set in his favour at 6-4.
No serve breaks were seen in the following set to impose a tie breaker round into play. The Ukrainian crumbled in the decider and secured merely one point to lose the second set at 6-7(1), letting Cilic in the second round of the
St. Petersburg Open.
Cilic will go one-on-one against India’s Somdev Devvarman in the second round to fight for a quarter-final berth on Thursday. The unseeded Indian was successful against Karol Beck of Slovakia in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, in the
first round of the tournament.
Tags: