Marin Cilic reflects on tough French Open loss against Grigor Dimitrov
Croatian tennis star Marin Cilic admits he had his chances against Grigor Dimitrov but failed to capitalize as the Bulgarian claimed a five-set win 6-7 (3) 6-4 4-6 7-6 (2) 6-3.
Cilic, seeded at No. 11, failed to serve out for the first set in the ninth game but had no problems claiming the first set later in the tie-break.
The Croatian lost the second set after getting broken in the 10th game but kept his focus as he won the third set to take a 2-1 set lead.
However, Dimitrov once fought back as he dominated the fourth set tie-break to force a decider.
The Bulgarian failed to serve out for the match in the eighth game but broke Cilic in the ninth game to seal the win after four hours and 23 minutes of battle.
"Yeah, I think it was really good quality match from both sides. I was two sets to one up and I had that little bit of a psychological advantage in that fourth set. And also had a few chances, Love-30 one game, another game 15-30, just couple minor chances where, you know, things could have rolled on my side," Cilic said post-match.
"But then at the tiebreak, he played unbelievable tiebreak to win the fourth and, you know, just kept the pressure up. And, you know, I felt I just dropped a little bit in that fifth set, missed few balls that I was not missing in that first part of the match, you know, which can happen after four hours of play."
Dimitrov, who hasn't had a great clay season, came up with a big performance against Cilic to set up a third-round meeting against 2015 French Open champion Stan Wawrinka.
"But, you know, credit to him. He was playing really well. And I think what he did well was serving well when he was in the trouble. When I had some chances, he was coming up with some good shots and good serves," Cilic added.
"And, you know, generally I think the level was very good. Unfortunate that I could not win it and feel a little bit disappointed, obviously. But I think just looking at it, it was a very, very good match from both sides."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2W2irFh
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