Marin Cilic trounces Martin Klizan to reach last eight – US Open 2012
World number 13 from Croatia, Marin Cilic, finished strongly to outlast giant killer, Martin Klizan of Slovakia, in the fourth round of the US Open in New York on Monday.
The Croatian survived a scare to win the opener by the closest or margins, then prevailed in an evenly contested second set and completely got control of the proceeding after that to win 7-5, 6-4, 6-0 in two hours and three minutes.
Klizan made a couple of upsets at this final Grand Slam of the season, beating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Jeremy Chardy in the second and third round respectively.
Cilic has advanced to the last-eight stage at a Grand Slam for the first time since losing to Andy Murray in the 2010 Australian Open semi-finals. He reached quarter-finals at the US Open in 2009, getting ousted by the eventual
champion, Juan Martin Del Potro.
Coming back to the latest match, Cilic and Klizan held their serve in the first 11 games, taking the score to 6-5 in the former’s favour. The Croatian grabbed three out of four points to create two break opportunities in the 12th.
Klizan saved the first but could not do the same on the second one, losing the opener 5-7.
The Slovakian drew first blood in the second set by breaking Cilic’s serve in the opening game but lost his own in the following game to level the score at 1-1. Klizan hit a blow again in the third one and this time he consolidated
on it to gain a 3-1 advantage. However, the Slovakian could not sustain his lead, losing five of the subsequent six games to throw it away 4-6.
Cilic gave the best possible performance in the third set, as he struck three times, capturing six straight games to seal it 6-0.
The Croatian was jubilant on his performance, as he said, “I’m very, very happy and thrilled to be back in the quarters. The last two seasons since playing the semis at the Australian Open, I've been having lack of results at the
Grand Slams. This just shows I had a really good summer, [playing] consistently.”
The Monte Carlo, Monaco resident added, “I think what helped me the most was playing a lot of matches. I won two titles. Just kept me pushing, going and going after that kind of a game. But I was even working in the beginning of
the season. Now just happy that I'm in the quarters.”
In the quarter-finals, Cilic will lock horns with the British number one, Andy Murray, who easily defeated Milos Raonic in straight sets in the fourth round.
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