In the 2nd round of the Guga Kuerten group of the ATP Finals at London’s O2 Arena, Croatia’s best tennis player Marin Čilić defeated American John Isner 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4 to keep his hopes alive for the semi-finals.
On the road to the semi-finals, Čilic will play against No. 1 in the world, Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic, who, with two wins in the first two games, has already assured his Masters’ competition will continue, reports Gol.hr on November 15, 2018.
Čilić’s win against Isner lasted two hours and 15 minutes. It was the 11th match between the two, with Čilić now securing eight wins and Isner three.
Already in the first game, Čilić had a chance to break, and in the tenth, Isner had three, though Čilić saved them all. The set was ultimately solved in the thirteenth game where Isner achieved two mini-breaks and finally won the first set.
In the second set, Marin had the first opportunity with the chance for three breaks at a 3-2 lead. Unfortunately, Isner knew better than to make that happen. But on the next Isner service, Čilić made sure he didn’t miss the opportunity – he had three breaks, missed two, but got the third at 5-3 and equalized Isner 1-1 in sets.
The opening of the decisive third set saw three breaks in a row. At the start of the set, Čilić already took the service of his rival. The American player came back in the next game, though Čilić was able to stabilize his play and held his advantage until the end for the win.
On the ladder of the group, Djokovic leads with two victories, Čilić and Zverev both have a victory and a defeat, while Isner has two defeats.
In the last match of the group on Friday, Čilić will meet Novak Djokovic. Isner and Zverev will meet in the second game.
Čilic and Djokovic have played 18 times so far, though Čilić has achieved only two wins – at the Queen’s Club this year, and in 2016 at the Paris Masters.
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