Cilic Prevails Over Paire In Rotterdam
Top seed Marin Cilic needed a comeback win to beat Benoit Paire 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 on Tuesday at the ABN Amro World Tennis Tournament. The 28-year-old Croatian fired 13 aces and saved nine of the 10 break points he faced during a two-hour challenge from the Frenchman, who reached the semi-finals in Montpellier last week. Cilic advances to the second round, where he will face the winner of the match between two #NextGenATP stars, Borna Coric and Karen Khachanov.
Elsewhere, there were mixed fortunes for the leading French contenders in Rotterdam. Sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga overcame #NextGenATP player Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 7-6(2), but his countryman, eighth seed Lucas Pouille, was beaten by Philipp Kohlschreiber, 7-5, 6-2.
Tsonga, who reached the final of this ATP World Tour 500 tournament six years ago (l. to Soderling), defeated 18-year-old Tsitsipas in 89 minutes. The Greek teenager was making his ATP World Tour main draw debut after being given a wild card by tournament director, Richard Krajicek.
Tsonga was pegged back by Tsitsipas when serving for the match at 5-3 in the second set, but converted his second match point in the subsequent tie-break. "Even though I lost my serve [at the end], I played well," said Tsonga. "I’m pretty happy with how I played today and hopefully I will get better every day.
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"It was difficult, as I did not know him at all. That’s unusual on the Tour, never seeing somebody at all. I didn’t know where to play at the start or what to expect."
The 31-year-old Tsonga is coming off a semi-final showing in Montpellier (l. to Zverev) and has a 9-3 record on the season. Searching for his first ATP World Tour title in 18 months, Tsonga goes on to face Gilles Muller, who was a 6-3, 6-2 winner over Dutch wild card Tallon Griekspoor. The 33-year-old Muller won the first ATP World Tour title of his career at the start of 2017 in Sydney (d. Evans).
Looking ahead to the clash with Tsonga, Muller commented, “He is a very good player. It’s a good challenge for me in the second round and I will hope to play good tennis. He has been playing well since the start of the year, playing his best tennis ever. It will be a serious match for me."
Kohlschreiber earned a clash with Martin Klizan after his 73-minute win over Pouille, in which he broke serve four times. The German made the semi-finals in Rotterdam last year (l. to Monfils) and is this week looking to win his first hard-court title since Auckland 2008. Klizan booked his spot in the second round after rallying from a second set bagel to beat Fernando Verdasco 6-4, 0-6, 6-1.
In an all-French first-round clash, Gilles Simon rallied from a set down to beat Nicolas Mahut 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Seeded Teams Advance
Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez, the No. 2 seeds, topped home hopes Tallon Griekspoor and Niels Lootsma 7-5, 6-2 to reach the second round. They next face Mate Pavic and Alexander Peya, who defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber and Dominic Thiem 6-2, 6-1.
Third seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcel Granollers also advanced with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Grigor Dimitrov and Lucas Pouille. The Croatian/Spaniard duo will play Tomas Berdych and Rohan Bopanna, 6-2, 6-2 winners over Robin Haase and Glenn Smits, in the second round. Last Sunday’s Montpellier champions Alexander Zverev and Mischa Zverev fell 6-3, 6-4 to Dutch duo Wesley Koolhof and Matwe Middelkoop.