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Croatian teen clinches first ATP title

Croatia’s Marin Cilic celebrates on Saturday after defeating Mardy Fish of the US in the final of the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven, Connecticut. PHOTO: AP

Teenage standout Marin Cilic of Croatia clinched his first-ever ATP title on Saturday after a 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 triumph over Mardy Fish of the US in New Haven.

The 19-year-old Croat, seeded sixth, made a tough stand all week to emerge as a possible threat at the US Open, which starts next today.

“I’m unbelievably excited,” Cilic said. “I was a little bit nervous in the beginning of the third set. I got my rhythm back. I was really pumped up when I had to be. Really enjoyed the moment in the end.”

Cilic has now compiled a 31-21 record this year (18-12 on hard courts). He is the second Croat after Ivo Karlovic to capture an ATP title this season.

Cilic, ranked No 31 in the world, raced out of the box behind bullet first serves. He broke his opponent in the opening game to coast away with the first set.

The Zagreb resident looked surprisingly nervous in the later stages, conceding his serve for a second time in the tenth game along with the set.

Marin Cilic returns to Mardy Fish during the men’s singles final at the Pilot Pen championship on Saturday in New Haven. PHOTO: AFP

Cilic regained the initiative with a break early in the decider and sealed victory in style with an ace, his eleventh.

Once again, Mardy Fish, seeded eight, fell at the last hurdle in New Haven after losing to fellow-American James Blake in last year’s final.

“Nine times losing. I’ve got a lot of runner-up trophies in my office in my house. These are the ones I need to get,” Fish said.

In the women’s final, Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki upset top seed Anna Chakvetadze 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to claim the title.

Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark hits a forehand during the women’s final of the Pilot Pen tournament in New Haven on Saturday. PHOTO: AP

The unseeded Wozniacki wore down the Russian in one hour 53 minutes to grab her second title, three weeks after claiming her first in Stockholm.

“I really accomplished a lot these last couple of weeks,” the 18-year-old told reporters. “It’s been great.”

“Here it’s the tournament before the US Open and it’s a really big tournament. I have beaten some really great players,” she said.

Chakvetadze went into the match with a perfect 7-0 record in finals and began aggressively, sending a series of stinging returns deep to the baseline.

The Russian eased through the first set and looked on course for victory when she broke in the opening game of the second.

But Wozniacki suddenly improved and the mistakes began to flow from Chakvetadze.

The Dane broke in the 10th game to level the match before romping through the final set.

Wozniacki said: “I was playing her game [in the first set]. I had to make her play my game, make her do the things I wanted her to do. I tried to change and it worked.”

With a top-20 ranking assured, Wozniacki goes to New York with the belief she can improve on her best grand slam showing, a last-16 effort at this year’s Australian Open.

“I’ll have some confidence going into the US Open,” she said.

Chakvetadze said the exertions of her three-set win over Amelie Mauresmo in the semi-finals left her drained.

“I didn’t recover from yesterday’s match,” she said. “It finished quite late, went three sets and I didn’t really sleep well.”
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