Cilic Ends 18-Month Drought: Former US Open Champ Storms into Quarterfinals with Thrilling Nishioka Win
M. Cilic Advances to Quarterfinals at Hangzhou Open
Former world No. 3, M. Cilic (Croatia), participating as a wild card, defeated eighth seed Yoshihito Nishioka in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time in about 1 year and 8 months.
Cilic, a former world No. 3, has struggled with injuries over the past two seasons and underwent a second knee operation in May of this year. He returned to official competition for the first time in about six months at the Rafa Nadal Open (Spain/Manacor, hard, ATP Challenger) last month.
In the first round of this tournament, he overcame world number 135 Zwejda (USA) 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 to win his first match, marking his first tour win in about 1 year and 8 months.
In the second round, Cilic hit 32 winners, won 93 percent of points on his first serve, gave up one break but broke four times on the return games to win in one hour and nine minutes.
The ATP, the Association of Tennis Professionals, published Cilic’s comments on its official website, in which he said, “I was a break down at 3-4 in the first set but it was a really good match. Sometimes you have to wait for the right moment to put your game together, when everything goes right. I was lucky to break, recover and win the first set. After that everything started to go well. I’m very happy with my level.”
“I know what my level is and when I’m at my best. I just try to maintain that level as much as possible, push myself to win a lot of points and play well.”
Cilic, who won, will face Yasutaka Uchiyama, a qualifier and world number 160, in the quarterfinals. Uchiyama defeated the top seed H. Rune (Denmark) in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4, in the second round to advance to the quarterfinals.
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