Croatia’s best individual male tennis players have advanced to the third round of Roland Garros!
June 1, 2018 - As expected, Croatia’s best tennis player Marin Čilić and runner-up Borna Ćorić have made it to the round of 32 of one of the “most physically demanding tennis tournaments in the world,” the French Open (Roland Garros).
On Thursday, Marin Čilić knocked out 21-year-old Polish tennis player Hubert Hurkacz (ATP 188) in the second round after two hours and fifty minutes of play. Čilić was victorious with a score of 6-2, 6-2, 6-7 (3), 7-5.
In the first two sets, Čilic took the service from the young Polish player twice and created a convincing advantage for more than an hour of the game. However, in the third set, Hurkacz opened the game and was awarded a break with a 3-2 lead. His advantage, unfortunately, didn’t last for long, and in the next game, Čilić came back for his fifth break of the match.
Instead of using his experience on Hurkacz, Čilić allowed Hurkacz to stay in the game, making 26 unforced errors in the third set. In the final set, Čilić was able to come back, and although he created 52 unforced errors in total, which was six more than his rival, he had 48 winners - which was twice as many as Hurkacz.
.@cilic_marin qualifié pour le 3e tour ! Victoire 6-2 6-2 6-7 7-5 face à Hubert Hurkacz issu des qualifications. #RG18 pic.twitter.com/7BrCzGOyv6
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 31, 2018
In the third round, Čilić will face American tennis player Steve Johnson (ATP 46), who with 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-2, defeated Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff. Čilić has quite a bit of experience against the 28-year-old American and has been victorious in all four matchups thus far. This will be their first duel on a clay court.
Borna Ćorić also plunged into the third round of Roland Garros after finishing off Italian player Thomas Fabbiano (ATP 115) with 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-1 after two hours and 19 minutes of play.
Though Ćorić lost to Fabbiano in the first set, he played excellent tennis in the next three to easily find a place in the round of 32.
The first set didn’t see a break until the 10th game when Fabbiano took advantage of Borna’s lousy play to win the first set. The young Zagreb player wouldn’t let Fabbiano’s advantage last for long, and took the next three sets with 38 winners - twice as much as Fabbiano - and had 13 unforced errors fewer than the Italian.
In the third round on Saturday, Ćorić will face the 11th best player in the world, Argentina's Diego Schwartzman.
Donna Vekić and Petra Martić were unable to pass their opponents to the third round.
Source: Slobodna Dalmacija and Gol.hr
