Marin Cilic and Lukasz Kubot need three sets to reach the Memphis second round on Monday. They are joined there by Rhyne Williams, who has won eight matches in a row.
(1) Marin Cilic d. Ivan Dodig 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
Cilic survived an all-Croatian showdown by overcoming Dodig in the first round of the U.S. National Indoor Championships on Monday afternoon. The top seed held 13 of 14 service games to advance after one hour and 46 minutes. Dodig started strong by battling out of a 0-40 deficit at 0-1 in the opening set. The world No. 61 earned one break of his own midway through it and held comfortably the rest of the way for a surprising early advantage.
From there, however, it was all Cilic. The world No. 12 broke serve early in each of the next two sets and never came close to giving any of the breaks back. In fact, Cilic dropped only five service points in both the second and the third. A final hold at 5-3 in the decider ended the proceedings and sent the favorite into round two. Cilic finished with six aces and two double-faults while winning an awesome 41 of 46 first-serve points. Dodig wrapped up his effort with an impressive 13 aces compared to three double-faults.
(Q) Rhyne Williams d. (WC) Steve Johnson 7-6(4), 6-4
Williams earned his eighth consecutive match win when he defeated his former NCAA rival in one hour and 30 minutes during first-round action on Monday. The world No. 159 held all 11 of his service games and won 34 of 38 first-serve points to snag his first career ATP-level victory. Williams’ streak of eight began with a Challenger title in Dallas earlier this month and he also won two matches in Memphis qualifying over the weekend.
Johnson, ranked slightly ahead at 136th, won a mere three return points in the entire opening set but he managed to force a tiebreaker by saving two break points along the way. The two-time NCAA singles champion led 4-2 on a Williams’ double-fault, but he lost the last five points of the ‘breaker. Not until the final game of the match did a break of serve come. Williams seized it at 5-4 in the second to book a round-two clash against either Alexandr Dolgopolov or Bjorn Phau.
Lukasz Kubot d. Ryan Harrison 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-6(2)
A back-and-forth thriller saw Harrison storm back from a set and a break down before Kubot recovered from a break down in the third set. Kubot, who struck 11 aces to his opponent’s seven, finally prevailed after two hours and 37 minutes. The veteran Pole got off to a fast start by breaking early in the opening set and he maintained his lead the whole way. Harrison finally snagged momentum with a break midway through the second and it carried him into a decider.
The 20-year-old American seemed to have the edge until he cracked on serve up 4-3. From there, both players held en route to a decisive tiebreaker. Kubot sprinted to an enormous lead right away and it was never competitive. Both players turned in a disappointing seven double-faults and Harrison was further doomed by winning a mere 47 percent of his second-serve points. Next up for Kubot is either qualifier Alex Bogomolov or lucky loser Michael Russell.
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