Novak Djokovic defeated Marin Cilic in the quarterfinal – Western & Southern Open 2012
Second seeded, Novak Djokovic sidelined the
Croatian number one, Marin Cilic, in the quarter-final of the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati by a straight sets disposal of 6-3, 6-2 on Friday. The Serb nearly took one hour and 22-minutes to qualify for the semi-final of the ATP Masters Series
event.
Djokovic in an interview told the media, “It was my best match so far here in this tournament and came in the right moment, really. I had the biggest challenge today with Cilic who has been playing well the last couple of
months and I played a really good match. All these losses made me stronger and, yes, they are difficult, especially when you're playing for a country and when you're in Olympic Games and we're fighting for bronze medal. He won that match. You lose, you win,
but the most important thing is to try to move on and become even better and even stronger.”
The former world number one Serbian clinched the initial three games of the contest, turning the 3-love score to his advantage. Gradually Cilic kicked a slow start and secured the fourth game to take off his score. He battled
hard to level the scores of the Serbian tennis ace, however, seemed helpless on his rival’s powerful serves. Djokovic wrapped up the set with a 6-3 score.
The Serb bombarded his rival with three aces and double faulted only once. He had an average first serve rate of 69 percent, converting 18 of 22 first and five of 10 second deliveries in the opener. The 23-year-old Croatian
struggled to secure a moderate first serve percentage of 53, bagging 10 of 17 first and eight of 15 second serve points.
In the second set, the 15th ranked Croatian picked momentum and in the second game, he was ready to equalize the scores to 1-1. The Serbian tennis professional nailed his comeback in the match and
won the consecutive games consolidating a 6-2 win. Djokovic pounced Cilic with four aces, having a good first serve percentage of 68 and clinching 13 of 15 first serve points. The former top-tenner proceeded with an average first serve rate of 55 percent,
pocketing seven of 12 first and three of 10 second reply points in the closing set.
The 25-year-old Serb, will be competing against the former US Open champion Del Potro in the semi-finals.
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