Announcer. Andy Taylor. The Voice of the US Open
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Marin Cilic def Tennys Sandgren 64 63 36 63
This year’s Wimbledon Finalist Marin Cilic powered through a set-1 stumble and a set-3 battle with former Tennessee Vols standout Tennys Sandgren, earning a return to Round-2 in Flushing. In set-1, up a break 5-3, Cilic choked serving for the set. Sandgren answered with a gag of his own to fall behind 0-1.
Set-2 was a repeat of the first, minus Cilic’s squandered chance to serve it out. In the third, the 2014 US Open champ’s precision waned, while Sandgren sunk his teeth into longer rallies. Tennys found himself up 3-0 at the first sit-down, and hustled for an hour-plus to keep the match alive.
The most electric game of this first-rounder came at 3-4 in the fourth, Sandgren on serve. Down double break-point, Tennys street-fought his way to deuce, but couldn’t put Cilic away. On break point #4, Marin finally converted, then served-out the match with an ace wide.
Before reaching the Wimbledon Final, Marin was a finalist at Queen’s Club, and won his 17th career ATP World Tour singles title in Istanbul. The World #7 faces Germany’s Florian Mayer on Wednesday for a spot in Round-3.
