11. 08. 2011. ·
Photo: The Canadian Press
Nole claimed his 50th match win of the year!
The 2007 Montreal champion earned a spot in the Rogers Cup quarter-finals with a 7-5, 6-2 win over world no.29 Croat Marin Cilic in 1 hour and 35 minutes at Uniprix Stadium on Thursday.
Unlike yesterday when we saw 7 breaks of serve in the first set, there were no chances for break in today’s third round clash until the 12th game. Nole used his first opportunity which was also a set point and clinched the first set 7-5 in 51 minutes.
Novak fought off all three break points he faced in the opening game of the second set to go ahead. That first game lasted 10 minutes and 30 seconds. The 24-year-old Belgrade native broke Cilic two more times, in the fourth and eighth games, to take the set and match 6-2.
“It wasn’t really a beautiful match to play and to watch,” confessed Nole. “But I guess in the right moments I was trying to keep the ball in court, make my opponent make an unforced error. I was just more patient and played well. So that’s the positive.”
Match statistics: aces (1-6), double faults (1-4), winners (14-17), unforced errors (17-29), total points won (68-55).
The 3-time Grand Slam champion next faces world no.7 Gael Monfils who beat no.12 seed Viktor Troicki 3-6, 7-6, 7-6.
Their H2H is 6-0 in Nole’s favour.
Novak and Janko lost in the second round of the doubles competition in a close match. Seventh-seeded Poles Fyrstenberg and Matkowski prevailed 3-6, 7-6(4), 10-5.
