Tennis News from the Orient

Novak Djokovic has won the ATP 500 in Beijing and is now certain to surpass Andy Murray, becoming the third best player in the ATP ranking. It was a “schizophrenic” final against Marin Cilic, with the Croat displaying flat groundstrokes with his feet well inside the backline.

But after an hour of rain delay the Djoker dashed and clinched the first set 6-2. The second set saw an alternation of breaks: 6 in all the match. Cilic near the net is quite disastrous and wasted an easy forehand to give Novak 3-3. Djoker lost serve twice in a row, but Cilic never succeeded in saving his and forcing the match to the third before losing the tiebreak.

Djokovic is now between the principal candidates for the victory at the Shanghai Masters 1000, where the Serb could clinch his fourth and most prestigious title of a not-so-memorable season. Anyway, Cilic failed to live up with the expectations, grew after he overpowered Nadal in the semifinals.

(Continue to ATP Tennis 360)

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Classy Cilic Overpowers Murray

When Andy Murray hit the last forehand long ending his misery, Marin Cilic realized that he probably has completed his personal puzzle, found his missing piece and started filling his standards.

The Croat, thought by many as a future and bright star, had failed in big appointments (though recently he did defeat James Blake in a dramatic Davis Cup five-setter). But today he was simply perfect, enjoyable, powerful and precise. This was the best performance of his career. He gained his first Grand Slam quarterfinal and the crowd could rub their hands thinking to the clash between the two big-bombers of this decade: Marin Cilic and Juan Martin Del Potro.

(Continue to ATP Tennis 360)

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