Marin Cilic trounces Jurgen Melzer in opening round – London Olympics 2012
Seeded 13th in the tournament, Marin Cilic of Croatia stomped over the former world number eight, Jurgen Melzer, in straight sets at the London Olympics 2012 on Monday. He clobbered a 7-6(5), 6-2 victory against the Austrian top to cruise into
the second round at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, England.
The seeded Croatian showed superb tennis to outmuscle Melzer in their eighth duel against each other. After registering this success, Cilic not only extended his lead in the FedEx ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Head 2 Head series by 6-2 against
the 31-year-old but also secured a spot in the round of 32 at this major sports event which is held after every four years.
The Croat stated in a courtside interview after overpowering the Austrian veteran: “Happy to be through... It was not as comfortable as I thought it was going to be. I played really well in the tie-break – I had a lot of set points to finish it up – and
then in the second set, I played better.”
Cilic made a powerful entry at Games of the x*x Olympiad. He earned the critical break in the fourth game and leaped to a 4-1 lead. Apart from squandering his edge in the ninth game, the Croat stayed calm and took the set to a tie-breaker. He edged past
the Austrian in it and subsequently bagged the opener with a 7-6(5) score line.
Ranked 14th in the South African Airways ATP World Tour Rankings, Cilic maintained his intensity in the follow-up set and carved out the coveted break in the opening game to take the initial lead. He held his composure and not only swiped his
following serves with poise but cashed in another break chance to jump to a 5-1 lead. The Croat plucked his serve once again and clicked the set with a 6-2 win.
The 23-year-old Cilic will face off the former world number one, Lleyton Hewitt from Australia. The Aussie veteran battled past Ukraine’s Sergiy Stakhovsky in a three-set thriller to set up this duel. Hewitt lost the second set but ruled throughout the match
to formulate a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 score line.
The Canadian youngster, Milos Raonic, also earned the fame later that day. He recorded a 6-3, 6-4 victory against the Japanese star, Tatsuma Ito, in their second tour-level meeting.
Raonic will next face the fifth seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who bounced back to outshine Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci to reach this spot.
Tags: