Tata Open Maharashtra: Cilic survives scare to enter final eight

Roberto Carballes Baena took some shaking off by World No. 17 and high seed Marin Cilic, who was enjoying his first match of the brand new season. The thrilling 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 contest put the match favorite into the quarter-finals on the fifth version of the Tata Open Maharashtra on the Balewadi Stadium in Pune on Wednesday. Baena performed a stable match, earlier than Cilic ended the resistance.

The crowd would welcome Cilic again to Pune noisily, however Baena had serve breaks on his thoughts – Cilic bought away within the first set, however was left hopping a tad because the ball zipped by the air.

“Always important to start well and a win like that gives a lot of positives. We are coming through the off-season, working hard and practising. But it’s not the same when you come to the court,” the Croat mentioned later.

A few upsets panned out. World No. 60 Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi packed off final yr’s runner-up Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland 6-1, 7-6 (4) whereas World No. 62 Spaniard Pedro Martinez got here from behind twice for a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over fourth-seeded Argentine Sebastian Baez, ranked 43.

Mercurial No. 8 seed Arslan Karatsev of Russia was stretched by Dutchman Tim van Rijthoven 7-6 (7), 7-6 (8). The Netherlands’ breakthrough star Botic Van De Zandschulp despatched away Italian teen Flavio Cobolli 7-5, 6-4.

Botic too was banking on good preseason work to tug him by two stiff back-to-back matches. “I had preseason so hopefully, I am fit enough to play a couple of matches in a row,” he mentioned.

World No. 17 Marin Cilic made his manner into the singles quarter-final on the fifth version of the Tata Open Maharashtra after beating Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in an thrilling contest on the Balewadi Stadium in Pune on Wednesday…🎾🙌#Maharashtra_Open pic.twitter.com/Plsi5U8Qcv

— All India Tennis Association (@AITA__Tennis) January 4, 2023

Struggling at first, to search out his radar, he would finally string collectively a bunch of fine video games and begin enjoying nicely when he fell behind towards the qualifier. “He (Cobolli) already had three matches, so it was easy for him. When I was 5-2 behind, I started playing my best tennis. In the second set also, I was 4-1 behind but did a good job out there,” he would say, enjoying his singles match virtually 16 hours after the doubles final evening. “In the day, it’s different. But it’s good to get a match on the Centre Court, makes the next one easier,” he added.

Martinez needed to haul again his sport from a pool of errors, as he discovered his vary within the second making fewer unforced errors. It was his second straight three-setter. “I’ve had a good preseason for such situations training in my hometown. It was gym to court, court to gym… And I worked a lot on fitness and movement on court,” he mentioned.