Livescore blog

Ranked No. 6 in the main scheme, Marin Cilic is very difficult to qualify for the fourth round of the Australian Open after having a 4:6, 3:6, 6:1, 7:6 (8), 6:3 overthe Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

The Croatian, who reached the final of the tournament analyzed by sport news a year ago, was close to dropping out and overcoming the Spanish veteran not only with class but with a great deal of luck. Verdasco made 27 aces, led with two sets, and the fourth had two tiebreaker games. It was the second of these that culminated in a duel when Verdasco made a double mistake at his service.

At this point, the course of the meeting turned to the end and Cilic had a very big lead. The Croatian earned the next two points to even the sets at 2:2 after 10:8 points in the fourth set`s tiebreaker, and in the fifth scored an early break and quickly pulled away with 3:0 play. The last critical moment for Cilic came at 4-2 in his favor when Verdasco had three consecutive break points at 40-0, but again with great coolness, the Croatian snapped them up to close the game minutes later at almost 4:30. hours of play.

Cilic will play another quarterback for the quarterfinals, Roberto Bautista-Agut, who earlier today played three sets in Russia`s Karen Khachanov.

Livescore blog