Cilic Leads Croatian Charge With Three-Set Win At The ATP Cup

Former World No. 3 Marin Cilic was in danger of falling victim to the upset bug on Saturday evening at the ATP Cup. But the 18-time tour-level titlist battled hard for his country, riding his experience to a 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4 victory against Dennis Novak. 

“[I’m] very excited. It was absolutely very difficult. Dennis played a great level. It was our first meeting, and it was absolutely a thriller and difficult match… and also a great match to start the year,” Cilic said. “I think the level was really, really good.”

Cilic, whose FedEx ATP Ranking of No. 39 is his lowest since October 2013, lost the first set. But the Croat relied on his serve to turn the tide against the World No. 108, winning all 16 of his service games en route to his first triumph of the season.

“I think everyone who can deal with the nerves, everyone is going to be playing their better selves on the court.
You have your team captain behind you. You have your teammates. They can definitely give you big support. You are feeling that responsibility on the court as well that you want to push, you want to fight, even when you are in some difficult situations,” Cilic said. “When I was a set down, they were encouraging me, and then you also don’t want to disappoint them.”

After two hours and 27 minutes, Cilic struck his 15th ace of the match, crushing an untouched delivery in the ad court down the T before turning to Croatia’s Team Zone with his left fist in the air.

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Novak received plenty of valuable instruction throughout the match from Austrian captain Thomas Muster, the former World No. 1. But once Cilic got into a rhythm of finding a way to take the first aggressive strike in rallies, Novak was unable to put the match on his racquet, especially during Cilic’s service games. There were also plenty of cat-and-mouse points as the match — a high-quality affair — wore on.

Dominic Thiem, the World No. 4, will try to force a deciding doubles match for Austria. The 2019 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up will play World No. 28 Borna Coric, whom he has won three of four matches against. Thiem has won their three most recent meetings, with all four of their battles coming at ATP Masters 1000 events.