Rampant Djokovic routs Cilic
12 Nov 2014 12:12 AM GMT
Djokovic took just 57 minutes to thrash US Open champion Cilic as the world number one extended his winning run at indoor events to 28 matches, a streak that includes 11 consecutive victories at the Tour Finals.
The Serb, who has already triumphed in London at Wimbledon earlier this year, is bidding to become the first man to win the Tour Finals three times in a row since Ivan Lendl from 1985 to 1987 and he looks in the mood to do just that on the evidence of his latest masterclass. ‘I haven’t played here for 12 months, it’s great to be back. It was a great performance. Marin as a US Open winner has a lot of confidence, but I managed to neutralise his serve and get a lot of ball back in play and that was part of the tactic,’ Djokovic said.
Djokovic arrived in London in buoyant mood after celebrating the birth of his first child, a boy named Stefan, by winning the Paris Masters without dropping a set earlier this month. He has the additional motivation of knowing if he wins all three of his group matches he will be guaranteed to hold off Roger Federer in the race to finish the year on top of the world rankings. Djokovic had won all 10 of his previous meetings with Cilic, including a five-set victory in this year’s Wimbledon quarterfinals. In Djokovic, Cilic faced one of the greatest returners of all time and the Serb wasted little time neutralising Cilic’s biggest weapon as he broke serve in the third game. Cilic was broken again in the fifth game as Djokovic took the first set with ease.
Djokovic broke Cilic in the second game of the second set thanks to another tremendous piece of defensive play. In the next game Cilic earned his first break point which he converted. But Djokovic’s lull didn’t last long and another break, secured via an off-target Cilic forehand, brought a 3-1 lead that effectively ended the contest. Earlier on Monday, Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka opened his campaign in style with a 6-1, 6-1 demolition of Tomas Berdych.
The Serb, who has already triumphed in London at Wimbledon earlier this year, is bidding to become the first man to win the Tour Finals three times in a row since Ivan Lendl from 1985 to 1987 and he looks in the mood to do just that on the evidence of his latest masterclass. ‘I haven’t played here for 12 months, it’s great to be back. It was a great performance. Marin as a US Open winner has a lot of confidence, but I managed to neutralise his serve and get a lot of ball back in play and that was part of the tactic,’ Djokovic said.
Djokovic arrived in London in buoyant mood after celebrating the birth of his first child, a boy named Stefan, by winning the Paris Masters without dropping a set earlier this month. He has the additional motivation of knowing if he wins all three of his group matches he will be guaranteed to hold off Roger Federer in the race to finish the year on top of the world rankings. Djokovic had won all 10 of his previous meetings with Cilic, including a five-set victory in this year’s Wimbledon quarterfinals. In Djokovic, Cilic faced one of the greatest returners of all time and the Serb wasted little time neutralising Cilic’s biggest weapon as he broke serve in the third game. Cilic was broken again in the fifth game as Djokovic took the first set with ease.
Djokovic broke Cilic in the second game of the second set thanks to another tremendous piece of defensive play. In the next game Cilic earned his first break point which he converted. But Djokovic’s lull didn’t last long and another break, secured via an off-target Cilic forehand, brought a 3-1 lead that effectively ended the contest. Earlier on Monday, Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka opened his campaign in style with a 6-1, 6-1 demolition of Tomas Berdych.
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