Cilic routs Melzer for Zagreb title

Marin ?ili? grew up learning tennis in Zagreb. Eight years later, he is still reaping the rewards of the rich bond he built during those formative years. The world No. 12 barely broke a sweat as he trounced Jurgen Melzer with a clinical display of power tennis. In a celebration that lasted all of 67 minutes in front of his adoring countrymen inside the Dom Sportova in the Croatian capital, ?ili? was dominant throughout the 6-3, 6-1 demolition of the 29th ranked Melzer.

The top seeded Croat got off to a smooth start, holding to love before pushing Melzer in the very second game. But Melzer saved both break points, the second with a crisply executed forehand down the line winner to prevent an early break. The set remained on serve to the seventh game, before Melzer aided the Croatian with a couple of backhand errors – one a slice that looped too high and the other just an overcooked drive – to gift the break and a 5-3 lead to ?ili?. The Croat did not need an invite and having received one, he went on to deal in service winners interspersed by an ace to clinch the first set to love in the ninth game.

Melzer’s backhand was misbehaving for much of the evening and another couple of expensive adventures on that flank allowed ?ili? an easy break in the third game of the second set. ?ili? accepted with glee, rushing to net with his towering frame to put away the backhand volley. It rolled quickly downhill from there for Melzer who failed to hold serve for the rest of the match. ?ili? leapt to a 5-1 lead with a resounding ace that went past the dazed Austrian like a missile. In a final flourish, Melzer responded to a volley winner from ?ili? with a forehand volley winner of his own to wipe out the first match point. But ?ili? had one too many in his bag and exactly the same stroke set up his second match point. And on that occasion, Melzer decided put himself out of the misery with a backhand error to leave the Croat celebrating with a delightful scream that was met with a vociferous echo from the packed stands.

?ili? had packed too much fire power on the day for the Austrian, who just could not find the answer to 33 winners and 8 aces from the 24 year old Croat. The top seed did not even offer a single break point through the match while converting 4 of 12 opportunities to seal a dominant victory over the 29 year old from Austria. It was the Croat’s 9th title in 16 finals and his third tournament victory in Zagreb, which has a rich tradition of home winners – 8 of its 10 editions so far have ended with the title in the hands of a Croatian. The 6’6″ Croat had also won here in 2009 and 2010.

“This final is probably the best match I played in this season,” ?ili? said, commending himself. “This was an almost brilliant match on my part. It was tough to break Melzer in the first set, but after I did it the path to victory was open.” Melzer was gracious in defeat, as he admitted the Croat was superior on the day, “?ili? was much better today and deserved to win in front of his own crowd,” he said.

In the doubles event, the second seeded pair of Julian Knowle and Filip Polasek ousted Croatians Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic 6-3, 6-3 to go one better over their runner up finish at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open earlier this year. It was the 15th doubles title for Knowle and the 10th of his career for Polasek.