Marin Cilic vs Fabio Fognini – Second Round Preview: China Open 2011
China Open enters its second round, with 16 talented men straining hard to seize a quarter-final berth in the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 500 event. World number 25, Marin Cilic of Croatia will compete
against the 39th ranked Italian, Fabio Fognini, in the second round matchup on Thursday afternoon.
The contest will be played on the outdoor hard courts of the Olympic Green Tennis Center, in Beijing, China, with the winner getting a quarter-final spot in the tournament.
Croatia’s number one tennis player, Cilic has been in a brilliant form this ATP season. He took off his China Open campaign by outclassing the local wildcard entrant, Di Wu, in the opening round. Cilic absolutely demolished the
Chinese opponent in straight sets 6-2, 6-0, to force his way to the second round of the tournament to face Fognini.
Unseeded in the tournament, Cilic is well reckoned for his heavy serve in the game and uses his pin-point aces to outplay his opponents comprehensively. He has already won 34 matches in the running year, with 18 defeats to his
name. Despite of a brilliant form, Cilic has failed to bag a championship title in the running ATP season so far. Despite of a mid-season slump, the Croat has started to move up in the ATP World Rankings, improving seven places in two months’ time.
Cilic was the runner-up at the China Open two years back, when he lost to Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the final. He came to Beijing as one of the strongest contenders for the title and after a number of top class players falling
out of the opening round, it seems a perfect opportunity for Cilic to claim his first championship title of the year in Beijing. The Croat has already featured eight quarter-finals in the current season and needs to get past the 24-year-old Fognini earn a
place in his ninth.
Fognini is among the crafty competitors in the tennis world, straining to rise to the top of the rankings. The Italian is having a mixed season so far, winning 22 matches he played and suffering defeat on 22 occurrences. Fognini
is yet to win a championship title in his career and is desperately labouring to have one in Beijing.
Fognini had no real trouble in disposing of the lucky loser from Slovenia, Grega Zemlja, in straight sets 6-4, 6-1, in the opening round of the tournament. The Italian had to come up with something special to take down the world
number 25 in the second round clash if he desires to have a spot in his fifth ATP World Tour quarter-final.
Both men have a 1-1 record against each other, with Cilic winning the most recent semi-final encounter against Fognini, 6-2, 5-2, on the hard courts of Umag, Croatia, this year. He will be the hot favourite for the Thursday’s matchup
against the Italian.
Winner of the two men will either take on Kevin Anderson of South Africa or the unseeded Spaniard, Albert Montanes in the quarter-final matchup of the China Open. Anderson and Montanes will go one-on-one against each other on Thursday
afternoon as well.
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