German No.1 Alexander Zverev recovered from a sluggish start to defeat Marin Cilic 7-6(5), 7-6(1), in his opening match at the ATP Finals in London.
The 21-year-old, who boasted a five-match winning streak against Cilic going into the match, struggled to find his range early on. Producing an array of mistakes that drew worried expressions from his entourage in the crowd. Nevertheless, Zverev managed to turn his fortune around with the help of his opponent buckling on the crunch points. The lackluster performance featured 20 winners to 32 unforced errors. An improvement on Cilic’s 17 and 46.
“I kind of just wanted to fight back from the score,” Zverev said during his on-court interview. “He was up a break in both sets and I knew that this was a very important match. You don’t want to start the group stages with a losing record so it was very important to get the win.”
In what was their seventh meeting on the tour, Zverev engaged in a cat and mouse chase with Cilic from the onset. A poor start from him, which featured a series of shanks from the forehand side, swiftly elevated Cilic to a 3-0 lead. The Croatian then had a chance to secure a double break for a 5-2 lead but failed to capitalize on the opportunity. Reviving Zverev’s chances as his level improved as the match progressed.
Ultimately Zverev’s breakthrough during the opening set was more to do with his opponent than him. Serving with a 5-3 lead, a tight Cilic service game enabled the German to fight back and eventually level 5-5. Despite the fightback, closing the set out was far from straightforward. During a tentative tiebreaker, two set points came and went for Zverev before he prevailed on his third chance with the help of a clear passing shot.
“Against Marin, you never want to fall behind because he is such a hard-hitting and aggressive player. It’s Tough to play against him.” He said.
It was a case of deja vu heading into set number two with Cilic grabbing the break advantage before letting it go once again. Eventually, Zverev battled to a game away from victory after a Cilic backhand plowing into the net moved him ahead 7-6, 5-4. He then had a match point in the following game but failed to seize the opportunity. Allowing to Cilic to once again draw level.
Despite the mixed performance, Zverev secured the win in a somewhat anticlimactic manner. An error-stricken performance from Cilic in the second tiebreaker rewarded him six points in a row. The win was then sealed with the help of a serve out wide.
The loss is the latest disappointment suffered by Cilic at the year-end event. His record at the tournament has been far from spectacular. This year is Cilic’s fourth appearance at the ATP Finals, but he has only managed to win one out of ten matches since his debut back in 2014.
In contrast, Monday’s win is Zverev 55th on the season and his second at the tournament overall.
