Croatian young gun Marin Cilic has moved through to the third round of Australian Open 2009 following a hard-fought 6-2 6-3 4-6 6-3 victory over Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.
Both men came into the match with points to defend from last year’s performance at the Open. Cilic made the fourth round in 2008, while Tipsarevic extended Roger Federer to 10-8 in the fifth set of an epic third round match 12 months ago.
It was a match of opposites – the tall, lanky big-hitter with a calm demeanour up against the short, quick, emotional counterpuncher.
Cilic said he was relieved to close out the match in four sets.
“Things were getting tighter toward the end of the match, especially after the third set,” he said.
Cilic began in the best possible fashion, breaking Tipsarevic in the opening game and consolidating on serve to lead 2-0. Games then went on serve until Cilic broke again in the seventh game before serving out the set.
Tipsarevic appeared to be getting back into the match when he went up a break early in the second, but faltered when presented with a chance to hold for 3-0.
Cilic broke back to level the scores with superior serving and consistent groundstrokes, and then broke again on his way to claiming the set.
“I would say the first two sets I was feeling quite comfortable on the court and playing really well and serving good, which helped me to get a lot of free points,” Cilic said.
Cilic carried this momentum into the third, with the No. 19 seed breaking immediately to go up 2-0.
However, Tipsarevic – possibly inspired by his heroic efforts of 2008 – successfully went for his shots while cutting down his errors, running the big Croat side-to-side and winning the battle from the baseline.
Frequently forcing his opponent into error, the Serbian ran away with the set.
The Serbian suffered a letdown in the fourth set, accumulating nine errors by the fourth game. Cilic pounced to break in the sixth game, and closed out the match shortly thereafter.
The Croatian said his serve heavily influenced his performance throughout the match.
“[In] the third set I dropped my first serve percentage and lost that rhythm, so he was getting more inside the court and moving me around,” he said.
“In the end, I got my serve back and really fought to win.”
Cilic will next play 11th seed David Ferrer of Spain, and said he was feeling confident with his game.
“I feel like I have some things to work on; there’s always some space to improve,” he said.
“But I’m feeling more consistent this year than last year, just better in each [aspect of my game].”
Quick facts
Cilic cracked 54 winners and 22 aces during the match
Tipsarevic managed 32 winners and just four aces
Both players had a similar error count – 46 for Cilic, 42 for Tipsarevic
The Croatian won 17 points at the net, while Tipsarevic won 15
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