US Open champion Marin Cilic was made to work hard before he earned a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over 128th-ranked Russian journeyman Evgeny Donskoy to reach the quarter-finals of the Kremlin Cup on Wednesday.
Cilic was pushed to the limit at times, but claimed victory in just less than two hours to bolster his hopes of qualifying for next month’s ATP Tour Finals in London.
The Croatian second seed had the greater composure in the decider, breaking wild-card Donskoy three times, while just about managing to keep his own serve functioning, despite being broken twice by the 24-year-old Russian.
Photo: EPA
Cilic next faces either Tommy Robredo or Filip Krajinovic and stands provisional sixth in the race to London, with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Australian Open winner Stanislas Wawrinka already qualified, and several players still in contention to grab the four remaining places.
In the WTA section, fourth seed Lucie Safarova fired 15 aces and survived all seven break points in her first-ever meeting with Croatian prodigy Ajla Tomjanovic to record a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 win.
The 27-year-old Czech player will next face fifth-seeded crowd favorite Svetlana Kuznetsova, who battled from a set down to beat Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Photo: EPA
Second-seed Ekaterina Makarova of Russia crashed out with a 6-4, 6-4 defeat at the hands of Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu.
Third-seeded Flavia Pennetta also fell, losing 7-6 (4), 6-4 to fellow Italian Camila Giorgi in their second-round match.
LUXEMBOURG OPEN
AP, LUXEMBOURG
Second-seeded Alize Cornet of France and third-seeded Sabine Lisicki of Germany bowed out of the second round of the Luxembourg Open on Wednesday.
The top three seeds are now out after Cornet lost 6-2, 6-3 to Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands, Lisicki was beaten 7-5, 6-2 by Czech qualifier Denisa Allertova and top seed Andrea Petkovic lost on Tuesday.
Bertens faces Mona Barthel of Germany in the quarters, after she powered past No. 8 Monica Niculescu of Romania 0-6, 7-5. 6-3.
Fourth seed Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic and No. 5 Varvara Lepchenko of the US did advance to the last eight.
Zahlavova Strycova won 6-4, 7-6 (1) against Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck, while Lepchenko saved all break points she faced in a 6-2, 6-2 win Slovakia’s Jana Cepelova.
Zahlavova Strycova next plays Johanna Larsson of Sweden, who rallied past Polona Hercog of Slovenia 6-7 (8), 7-5, 6-1, while Lepchenko’s opponent is Allertova.
Sixth-seeded Roberta Vinci of Italy also went out after losing 7-5, 6-0 against Annika Beck of Germany.
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