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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, February 7, 2010

Tennis: Defending champ Cilic wins Zagreb Indoors


Associated Press

ZAGREB, Croatia — Top-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia successfully defended his Zagreb Indoors title by beating Michael Berrer of Germany in three sets Sunday.

Cilic won 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-4 in 2 hours, 38 minutes to claim his second title of the year and the fifth of his career.

The 22-year-old Croatian has been in good form this season, winning in Chennai, India, in January and reaching the semifinals at the Australian Open to break into the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time.

For the first time in this tournament — and last year's — Cilic lost a set.

After winning all five matches last year in straight sets, he was close to repeating the feat this year before Berrer forced a deciding set by winning a tiebreaker.

Cilic never lost his serve in the final, saving all six break points he faced.

The third set was decided by a lone break in the fourth game. Cilic served for the match at 5-3, saved two break points and hit his 13th ace to clinch the title.