LATEST TENNIS NEWS – MARIN CILIC SAVES MATCH POINT TO SURVIVE SHANGHAI ROLEX OPENER

Written by: Staff on 13th October 2015

LATEST TENNIS NEWS - MARIN CILIC SAVES MATCH POINT TO SURVIVE SHANGHAI ROLEX OPENER

epa04970233 Marin Cilic of Croatia hits a return to Kei Nishikori of Japan during their men's singles quarterfinal match of the Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo, Japan, 09 October 2015. EPA/KIYOSHI OTA |

Croat Taken The Distance By Chinese Wild Card ( it’s been a long season )

Marin Cilic’s famed serve came to the rescue as he narrowly avoided a shock defeat at the hands of Di Wu on Monday evening at the Shanghai Rolex Masters.

Facing match point against the No. 227-ranked Chinese wild card at 4-5, 30/40 in the third set, Cilic produced an ace – one of 15 he struck in the contest – before rallying to record a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) victory in two hours and 14 minutes.

The 24-year-old Wu was chasing his first ATP-level victory and produced inspired tennis as he stretched 2014 US Open champion Cilic to a third-set tie-break. The Shanghai native dropped to a 0-12 mark in ATP and Grand Slam main draw play.

The 27-year-old Cilic is looking for a big result at this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 hard-court tournament as he looks to mount a late charge for one of the four remaining spots at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The Croatian goes on to face countryman Borna Coric in the second round.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga also battled back from a set down to advance, defeating Tommy Robredo 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2 in just under two hours. The 16th-seeded Frenchman captured his 12th ATP World Tour title last month on home soil in Metz (d. Simon). He next will face Victor Estrella Burgos, who defeated lucky loser Donald Young 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

World No. 47 Steve Johnson notched his 29thwin of the season as he edged Andreas Seppi 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(2) in just over two hours. His fellow American Sam Querrey could not join him in the second round, though, beaten 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 by Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

London Hopefuls Upset In Opener

Barclays ATP World Tour Finals hopefuls Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares suffered a blow to their qualification bid as they were beaten in the Shanghai first round. Dominic Inglot and Robert Lindstedt defeated the Austrian/Brazilian duo 6-4, 6-7(5), 10-3.

Kevin Anderson and Jeremy Chardy won their opener, defeating Pablo Cuevas and Viktor Troicki 6-1, 1-6, 10-8.

( Courtesy of the ATP and Original Link – http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/cilic-saves-match-point-to-survive-shanghai-opener )

Topics: Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Alexander Peya, Andreas Seppi, Atp World Tour, Borna Coric, Bruno Soares, Di Wu, Donald Young, Jeremy Chardy, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Kevin Anderson, Marin Cilic, Pablo Cuevas, Robert Lindstedt, Sam Querrey, Shanghai Rolex Masters, Sports, Steve Johnson, Tennis News, Tommy Robredo, Victor Estrella Burgos, Viktor Troicki

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10sBalls_com says:

October 13, 2015 at 10:25 am

LATEST #TENNIS NEWS – @cilic_marin SAVES MATCH POINT TO SURVIVE @SHRolexMasters OPENER- http://t.co/1uu3iJsPHC #shanghairolexmasters #Cilic