Marin Cilic squandered four match points and lost to Benoit Paire 2-6, 7-5, 7-6(1) in round one of the Dubai Duty Free tennis Championships on Tuesday afternoon.
Cilic led 6-2, 5-3 and soon had two match points on his own serve at 5-4 in the second. Paire saved the first, after which the Croat double-faulted on the second. Although the Frenchman went on to force a third set, Cilic eventually got a look at two more match points with Paire serving at 5-6. At 30-40, Paire fought one off with an ace–a controversial ace, at that.
The serve appeared to be out, as it was called, but Hawkeye overturned it and gave the point to Paire for deuce. After the world No. 21 managed to hold, Cilic collapsed in the decisive tiebreaker. It finally ended in appropriate fashion at the two-hour and 32-minute mark, with Cilic double-faulting down match point at 1-6.
“Normally when it’s one set, 5-3, I normally tank,” admitted Paire, who took a picture of the mark in question following the match’s conclusion.
Next up for Paire is fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet, a straight-set winner over Lloyd Harris on Monday.
Also advancing to the Dubai second round were Novak Djokovic, Philipp Kohlschreiber, Karen Khachanov, Gael Monfils, Andrey Rublev, and Pierre-Hugues Herbert. Both Monfils and Rublev have already captured two ATP titles apiece in 2020.
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ouch
Yeah, as I expected, a close ride.