Marin Cilic's US Open Preparations Falter

Marin Cilic's preparations for the defence of his US Open crown suffered a setback as he crashed out of the Rogers Cup in the Second Round.

The Croatian suffered a 6-3 6-4 defeat to outspoken Aussie, Bernard Tomic, in his opening match. before comfortably taking the first set.

It was a similar story in the second, with Tomic breaking early before consolidating his lead with an excellent serving display, winning 80 per cent of points on his first serve. Cilic failed to earn himself a single break point in the...

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Cilic Continues Rankings Rise

Marin Cilic continued his fine run of form with his second title in three weeks as he claimed victory at Delray Beach. The Croat added this victory to his Zagreb title two weeks ago and a runner's up spot in Rotterdam last week to rise four places in the rankings to 25. Cilic will be looking to push back into the top 20 following a disappointing second half of last year.

Elsewhere Ernest Gulbis rose to a career high eighteenth following victory in Marseilles this weekend. Gulbis claimed his fifth ATP title with a 7-6(5) 6-4 victory over local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga who did not move this week.

In fact it was a quiet week at the top of the men's rankings with no movement inside the top ten. Kei Nishikori was a big loser though, dropping five places to twentieth whilst a strong showing from Pablo Andujar reaching the Rio Open semi-final sees him rise six places to 34th. Andy Murray will be wary of Andujar's form after being drawn against him in the opening  round of this week's tournament in Acapulco.

A first round appearance in Marseilles pushed promising young Brit Kyle Edmund into the top 300, whilst it was a quiet week elsewhere for the British boys. The girls also had a quiet week with neither Laura Robson or Heather Watson taking part in any competitions. Nor will they be playing this week as Robson continues to recover from a wrist injury whilst Watson retired in a qualifying match in Brasil.

The women's rankings saw more change at the top than the men. Despite losing in the first round to Ana Ivanovic, Angelique Kerber rose two places to 6th whilst Simona Halep followed her in rising two places to 7th. Petra Kvitova's lack of action meant she dropped from 6th to 9th whilst a quarter-final showing from Jelena Jankovic was not enough as she fell one place to eighth.

The Dubai champion, Venus Williams celebrated a fantastic week with a fifteen place rise to move back inside the top 30 at 29th; only her second WTA title in four years. The other big mover inside the top 100 was the Japanese first seed, Kurumi Nara. Her maiden WTA victory in the Rio Open catapulting her fourteen places to 48th.

Published on SEaT Capital.

Stuttering Murray Scrapes Into Quarters

Andy Murray survived a second round scare in Rotterdam as he narrowly beat young Austrian Dominic Thiem 6-4 3-6 6-3.

After breezing through his opening round match 6-3 6-3 against Edouard Roger-Vasselin, Murray struggled against the World number 113.

He started strongly, breaking twice to take a 3-0 lead in the opening set. The tenacious youngster then broke back, giving Murray only a single break advantage. This was all he needed though, taking the opening set 6-4.

Much to Murray's annoyance, Thiem refused to go quietly, the 20-year-old swinging freely as he pegged Murray back. The frustration showed after Thiem got the desired break, Murray smashing his racket into his foot. The Austrian showed no sign of nerves as he took the second set 6-3.

Murray rediscovered his rhythm in the third set, battling to break early. From there it was simply a matter of holding serve, as the Scot eventually ground out a 6-3 victory to progress to the quarter-finals.

Playing in his first tournament since his Australian Open defeat to Roger Federer, Murray is aiming to replicate his Rotterdam experience in 2009 when he overcame Rafael Nadal in the final. In order to do that though he will have to overcome Marin Cilic in the next round.

Fresh off the back of claiming his 10th ATP Tour title last week in Zagreb, Cilic is in imperious form, unbeaten in seven matches and seeking vengeance after his Queen's final loss to Murray last year.

Cilic overcame fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4 6-4 on his way to the quarter-final.

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Evans Defeated in Zagreb

Dan Evans fell at the final hurdle on his quest for a maiden ATP Tour final as he lost in three sets to World number 12, Tommy Haas.

Having already upset Philipp Kohlschreiber and Jan Hajek on route, the British number two was aiming to add Haas to his list of scalps.

After claiming the first set 7-5, it looked like Evans had a real chance of advancing to the final in Zagreb. However experience ultimately conquered, the veteran German winning the next two sets 6-4 6-3 to progress.

Nevertheless, Evans will be extremely pleased with his performance in Croatia, which will see him rise around 20 places in the rankings to 124 after becoming the first British man in three years, aside from Andy Murray, to advance to the semi-finals of an ATP Tour tournament.

His upwards movement in the rankings comes just a week after James Ward also increased 19 places to 156th.

In the final Haas will meet Marin CIlic after the Croatian overcame qualifier Bjorn Phau 6-3 6-4 to reach his fourth final in Zagreb.

Published on SEaT Capital.