Stanislas Wawrinka muscles past Marin Cilic for quarter spot
Stanislas Wawrinka, Swiss 12th seed, defeated 17th seed Croatia’s Marin Cilic 7-5, 6-3 in an hour and 38 minutes to progress to the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open 2011.
The first ATP 1000 Masters event of the year features a field of 96 players competing for the 1000 ATP points generally, and such an array of talent takes part usually that 12th is quite a low seeding for the tournament.
This year, however, other than the 7th and 8th seed, everyone from the 4th seed to the 11th seed is already out of the tournament. This makes Wawrinka a hot favorite for the title, should he survive and not succumb
like his peers.
Wawrinka has been playing tennis since 2002. He is currently ranked 14th in the world and is 25 years of age. His career has really taken off this year and the right-handed power-hitter has really started reeling in
the results. His win-loss record in 2011 currently stands at 14-3, and he has already won a title, in Chennai, and made it to the semi-finals of Buenos Aires.
Cilic had a stint in the world top 10 last year. He is currently ranked 20th in the world and is 22 years old. The Monte Carlo resident has also had a fairly good year. His win-loss record stands at 12-5 this year, and
his performances have generally been solid.
The two had faced each other 6 times before this match. Wawrinka had the advantage historically, having won 4 and lost 2 of the games. Their last meeting came more than a year previously though, at the 2010 Australian Open, and
Cilic came out on top there.
This match started off quite evenly. The first set saw Wawrinka land in 66 per cent of his first serves and win 16 points out of a total of 21 on it. Over all, he won 69 per cent of his own serve points. Cilic managed to land 43
per cent of his first serves correctly and won 12 out of 20 points on it. His total service points saw him come ahead 26 per cent of the time. The Croat’s slightly weaker serving saw him face 7 break points and concede two breaks. And even though he broke
back once, he could not salvage the set.
The second set too was a similar story. This time Wawrinka fired in 65 per cent of his first serves correctly and won 81 per cent of his on serve points. Cilic had figures of 52 per cent and 67 per cent respectively. This again
saw the Croat face multiple break points, and he conceded one break to lose out tamely.
In the next round, Wawrinka faces 7th seed Tomas Berdych. Berdych is in good form, and as world number 7, will expect to win. The match, however, will be tough, as both players are almost equally skilled.
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