Marin Cilic beats Dominic Thiem in Tel Aviv

A very good match was played in Tel Aviv between Marin Cili and Dominic Thiem with the Croatian coming out on top 6-7(6) 6-2 6-4.

Both Thiem and Cilic arrived in Tel Aviv with high hopes but unfortunately, the draw made it impossible for both to advance. It was a very good first set that lasted well over an hour and it saw Thiem outlast Cilic in the tiebreak.

It was exciting even before we got to the tiebreak because Thiem was the player that took the first break. Cilic would battle back to force a tiebreak and it was a good one. Cilic secured the first mini-break 4-3 but then lost two points on his serve to give Thiem a golden chance. He wasted his first set point but converted his second set point to win the opening set.

The second set saw Cilic unleash his full fury after dropping the first serve. He took a 4-0 lead and from there it was a rather simple task of converting it to a 6-2 finish. Cilic is a very streaky player and it totally clicked for him in the second set. He had 15 winners and only two unforced errors and it doesn't get any better than that.

Cilic wasted three break points in the opening game of the final set. He then saved a break point and broke Thiem in the very next game. He didn't need much to finish off the match and he did in the end. The more aggressive approach proved key in the final set.