By Richard Pagliaro | Sunday, October 31, 2021
A decade after his maiden St. Petersburg title, Marin Cilic fended off Taylor Fritz 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 to collect his 20th career title in St. Petersburg.
Photo credit: FormulaTX/St. Petersburg Open Facebook
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A decade after his maiden St. Petersburg title, Marin Cilic fended off Taylor Fritz 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-4 to collect his 20th career title in St. Petersburg.
The 33-year-old Croatian posted a win for the ages becoming the oldest champion in the 26-year tournament history.
The 2011 champion joins Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Juan Martin del Potro as the sixth active man with 20 or more career titles.
Four of Cilic's 20 career titles have come in Russian soil. Cilic, who won Moscow in 2014 and 2015, reached the Kremlin Cup final earlier this month becoming the sixth man in history to contest Moscow and St. Petersburg finals the same season.
Cilic pumped 12 aces and saved seven of 12 break points in a tense two hour, 23-minute triumph to score his 10th straight win in St. Petersburg.
This was a hard-hitting and jittery final with both men squandering break leads as the pair combined for 10 service breaks. Cilic was up a break holding a one-set, 3-2 lead only to see Fritz surge through four of the next five games and force a decider.
The fifth-seeded Fritz built a 3-1 third-set lead and had break points in both the sixth and eighth games, but could not convert as Cilic dug in with defiance.
Pressure caused Cilic to crack as he double-faulted away the break and a 3-1 final-set lead to Fritz.
The American struggled to capitalize on that good fortune falling into a triple break point hole. Cilic crushed a flurry of forehands down the line breaking right back in the fifth game.
The 2014 US Open champion showed his competitive character denying a couple of break points and firing a flat forehand to level after six games.
Two games later, Fritz slammed a forehand into the corner for a break point in the eighth game. Olympic doubles silver medalist Cilic showed fearless feel carving out a drop shot-volley combination to save break point. Cilic held to forge a 4-all deadlock.
It was Fritz’s turn to tighten in the ninth game. A Cilic return skimmed the top of the tape forcing Fritz to adjust to a shorter forehand. He whacked his down the line drive well wide to face break point.
The American had a good look at a backhand pass but netted it giving Cilic championship points. The 2011 champion needed only one.
Following a forehand forward, Cilic knocked off a forehand volley and erupted in a victory shout.
A decade after winning his maiden St. Petersburg crown, Cilic celebrated regaining the title with a running leap landing on the court as a 20-time ATP title holder.