Cilic Wins First Ever ATP Masters Title in Cincy
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

Marin Cilic captured his first ever ATP Masters 1000 title in a finals battle with another former US Open champion, the in-form Andy Murray. who saw his long winning streak snapped by Cilic. In just over an hour and a half, Cilic pulled an upset 6-4 7-5, as the favored Murray was surprisingly sluggish on the day. He was broken twice in the first set, and once in the second, while Cilic was broken just once in the first set, and dominated points on his serve.

Cilic didn’t finish his semifinal match until after 1 A.M. Sunday morning, and just 12 hours later he was back on court to face Murray. Despite that, he showed no signs of fatigue, while Murray, who has played a busy schedule in recent weeks, looked out of gas.

In Cincy Cilic got past Viktor Troicki, Fernando Verdasco, Tomas Berdych, Borna Coric, and surprise semifinalist Grigor Dimitrov, who posted a much needed tournament result, but struggled late against Cilic when it counted. Murray defeated Juan Monaco, Kevin Anderson, Bernard Tomic, and Milos Raonic without dropping a set, as all of his opponents appeared to be somewhat intimidated against him.

Heading into the US Open, both Murray and Cilic will have a chance to make deep runs, and this is the best result for Cilic in his career, besides that US Open triumph.

In doubles, Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo defeated Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau in a tightly contested final that ended in a third set tiebreak.