Five years ago, the entire field in Cincinnati had a great shot at claiming the Masters 1000 title, without Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic in the picture. Rafael Nadal was there but couldn’t do much, suffering a third-round exit to Borna Coric after a challenging week at the Rio Olympics a week earlier.
Marin Cilic and Andy Murray went into the fight for the title, and the Croatian went all the way, beating Briton 6-4, 7-5 for his first Masters 1000 title. It was Cilic’s 15th ATP title and only his third. since the 2014 US Open, serving well and beating Murray with strong, aggressive shots.
Andy did enough to tame Milos Raonic’s serve the night before, but he couldn’t repeat that against Marin and lay down his punches on exchanges. Cilic produced powerful serve and forehand combos, hitting 24 winners and errors to keep the rallies on his racket.
Marin Cilic defeated Andy Murray in straight sets at Cincinnati 2016.
Andy entered the match on a career-best 22-game winning streak, winning 11 of the previous 13 meetings against Cilic, but still finishing on the losing side for the first time since the Roland Garros final.
Unable to push the opponent out of the comfort zone, Murray added eight winners and more than 20 unforced errors, not enough for at least one set in the quest for Ohio’s third crown. Marin became the first Masters 1000 champion born after Novak Djokovic and ended the ‘Big 4’ streak at this level as they won the previous 18 Masters 1000 events after Toronto 2014!
The Croatian claimed 82% of the points with the first serve, offering Andy two break opportunities and giving away a serve. Murray couldn’t keep up with those numbers, played eight break opportunities and broke three times.
There were three breaks in the first set and Marín claimed two to control the pace. In his first two service games, Andy was at zero before Cilic broke him twice in a row to forge a 5-2 lead.
In his last effort of the set, Andy responded with a break at 15 in game eight, while Marin took him home in game ten for 6-4. Cilic flew onto the court in set number two, losing just three points on serve to a player with such an outstanding return and patiently waiting for the opportunity at the return.
However, he did not appear until Game 11, as Murray found a good rhythm on his serve, unlike the first game. With a 5-5 serve, Andy lost the opening three points to find himself in a very difficult position before fending off all three break opportunities for a breather.
Marín refused to soften the pressure, creating another pair of break opportunities and taking advantage of the fifth to advance and serve for the win. He did it with both hands, producing a solid service game to end the match in style and win his first Masters 1000 crown.
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