Marin Cilic thrashes Juan Carlos Ferrero to enter round of 32 – French Open 2012
Croatian ace, Marin Cilic, dumped the former world number one, Juan Carlos Ferrero, in straight sets at the Roland Garros 2012 on Wednesday. He juggled up a 7-6(4), 6-2, 6-3 victory against the Spanish veteran to book a spot in the third round at this second
of the third Grand Slam event taking place from 22nd May to 10th June in Paris.
Seeded 21st in this clay court Grand Slam event, Cilic, tumbled over the 32-year-old in their second meeting. After stealing the spotlight, the Croat not only extended his lead in the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head
series by 2-0 against Carlos Ferrero but also progressed into the third round with conviction.
The former top-10 star, Cilic made a dismal entry at the court number seven and suffered the first blow in the third game to go 1-3 down. However, he sought his momentum after that and not only recovered in the sixth game but dragged the set to the tie-breaker.
The Croat dominated in it and clicked the opener with a 7-6(4) win.
Cilic perfected his ways in the follow-up set and after breaking his opponent’s serve twice, the Croat leaped to a 5-1 lead. He then slid his serve once more and bagged the set by winning six games to two. The Croat was never threatened with any breakpoint
and cashed in half of the four break chances to prevail.
Currently ranked 24th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Cilic, kept momentum rolling in the third set and earned the critical break in the opening game to take the initial lead. He then brushed off the lone breakpoint he faced
to grab his entire serves and capitalised on another break chance in the last game to register a 6-3 success.
Overall, Cilic produced a lower first serve share of 52 per cent as compared to his rival’s 57 per cent and amazingly availed 34 out of 56 points on it.
Next challenge for Cilic is the world number nine, Juan martin Del Potro from Argentina. He bounced back to overcome the local contestant, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, in a four-set mouth-watering match to set up this meeting.
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