Marin Cilic saved four match points in his 6-4 2-6 7-6 (7-0) win over Slovakian qualifier Martin Klizan after 2 hours and 48 minutes to score his fifth win this season at the Madrid Mutua Open in the Caja Magica.
Klizan earned three consecutive breaks to win the second set 6-2 and earned four match points at 6-5. Cilic saved them before cruising through to a 7-0 win in the decisive tie-break. Cilic will face Jan-Lennard Struff, who beat Nick Kyrgios on Sunday.
Number 11 seed Karen Khachanov came back from 0-3 deficits in both the first and the second sets to battle past Jaume Munar 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 after three hours securing his spot in the second round at the Madrid Mutua Open where he will face either Radu Albot or two-time quarter finalist Fernando Verdasco.
Jaume Munar went up a 3-0 lead with a break in the second game in the first set. Khachanov won four consecutive games with breaks in the fifth and seventh games at deuce. Munar converted his fourth break-back point chance at deuce to draw level to 4-4. Khachanov broke for the third time at 30 in the ninth game and served out on his first set point in the 10th game.
Munar started the second set in the same way as the first taking another 3-0 lead with a break in the second game. Khachanov broke back in the ninth game on Munar’s set point at 5-3 40-30. Khachanov reeled off five of the first six games of the decisive set with two consecutive breaks in the fourth and sixth games to race out to a 5-1 lead. Munar pulled one break back in the seventh game and saved two break points in the eighth game to close the gap to 3-5. Khachanov served out the win on his first match point.
“I am really happy with my performance today and I tried to fight until the end. It’s the kind of game I am looking for. I am really happy to get through to the second round, to build my confidence and go back to basics. This is the kind of win, over three hours, physically demanding, that I needed”, said Khachanov.
US qualifier Taylor Fritz upset Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-4) after 1 hour and 47 minutes. Fritz converted two of his four break points.
The Bulgarian player earned the first break in the sixth game of the opening set to take a 4-2 lead, but Fritz broke straight back in the next game after a poor drop shot from Dimitrov. Fritz saved a set point at 7-6 with a service winner and sealed the tie-break with a forehand winner at 9-8 after 56 minutes.
Fritz got an early break to build up a 3-0 lead, but Dimitrov broke back in the seventh game after a double fault from Fritz. The young US player earned four mini-breaks and closed out the tie-break on the 11th point when Dimitrov made a forehand error.
Gael Monfils cruised past Andreas Seppi 6-3 6-1. The Frenchman drew the first blood with a break in the second game and held his next two service games to build up a 4-2 lead. Seppi got one break back in the seventh game to close the gap to 3-4, but Monfils sealed the first set with his third break at 15 in the eighth game. The 2019 Rotterdam champion broke three times to cruise through to a 6-1 in the second set.
This year’s Rio de Janeiro champion Laslo Djere beat Monte-Carlo finalist Dusan Lajovic 6-4 6-4 in all-Serbian first-round clash to seal his second Masters 1000 win. Djere converted three of his twelve break point chances.
US Next Gen star Frances Tiafoe scored his third top 20 win this season when he beat world number 14 Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-7 (8-10) 6-3 6-4 after 2 hours.
In the opening set Tiafoe earned two set points at 5-4, when Basilashvili was serving at 30-40, and two more set points at 6-5 and 8-7 in the tie-break. Basilashvili won the final three points to win the tie-break 10-8.
Basilashvili broke serve in the third game to open up a 3-1 lead. Tiafoe came back by winning five games with two consecutive breaks to clinch the second set 6-3. The young US player needed just one break in the fifth game to seal the decisive set 6-3 setting up a second round match against German Phillip Kohlschreiber, who beat Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin 6-2 7-6 (7-5) after 1 hour and 39 minutes.
Young US giant Reilly Opelka edged Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in 1 hour and 25 minutes to score his fourth match win at Masters 1000 level. Opelka won the tie-break 7-5 before getting his only break of the match in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead in the second set after a forehand error from Carreno Busta. Opelka hit four winners in the 10th game to secure his spot in the second set.
