Marin Cilic struggles past Robin Haase into the quarterfinal – Studena Croatia Open 2011
Number four seed Marin Cilic of Croatia made it to the quarterfinal of 2011 ATP Studena Croatia Open in Umag with a brilliant 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Robin Haase of Netherlands on Thursday. Despite making a very shaky start
to the match, Cilic was able to raise his game when it was needed the most.
Making a comeback from a set down in the match, Cilic showed amazing fighting abilities and mental strength to clinch the LAST two sets to seal a memorable win. The match was played on an extremely competitive note as it lasted
for more than 2 hour and 21 minutes on the red clay courts in Umag.
Haase looked in top form as the match started. He drew the first blood early in the opening set to dent his opponent’s confidence levels. Looking to stay in the set, Cilic also created break chances as he displayed some high quality
tennis throughout. Although the Dutch was broken in one of the games, he broke straight back to hold on to his advantage.
Concentrating even harder on his game play, Haase held on to his serve game at 5-4 to take the set score lead 1-0.
Looking down and out in the match, Cilic needed a very special performance to find an entry back into the match. Showing great clay court skills, he worked hard for every available point. Breaking his opponent in eighth game of
the second set, he earned a well deserved 4-2 lead. Placing in a lovely drop shot, he made two set point available and then converted the second one to even the set score 1-1.
Haase also had his chances to break the serve but he couldn’t handle the heat as he struggled to execute his game plan. Making a large number of unforced errors including few costly doubles faults, he did not held himself. It will
be fair to say that he lost his concentration and could not recover from the heavy blows inflicted on him by the Croat.
The contestants put up a great fight in the final set as well but neither of them managed to break the serve until a very tricky 3-3 situation was reached. Cilic lifted his spirits and clinched next three straight games to seal
an emphatic victory. Playing his A-game under pressure, he converted the big points in his favour to move ahead at the tournament.
Cilic, however, had a horrific time with his serving as he hit only 39 per cent of his first serve. To make it to the final stages of the tournament, he must try and bring more consistency to his serve.
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