Defending U.S. Open Champ Cilic Outlasts Kukushkin
September 4, 2015 | By Long Island Tennis Magazine Staff
Marin Cilic got all he could handle from Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin on Friday afternoon, but the defending champion turned it up in the fifth set to hang on for the 6-7(5), 7-6(1), 6-3, 6-7(3), 6-1 victory.
After taking the first set in a tie-breaker, Kukushkin found himself up a break and serving for the second set. But Cilic stood his ground, got the break back, and went on to win the set in a tie-breaker.
After winning the third set routinely, Cilic found himself up a break, but as was the theme of this match, Kukushkin broke back and forced the set into a tie-breaker. He capitalized on his second set point in the breaker to send the contest into a deciding fifth set.
But that is when the Kazakhstan native ran out of gas. Cilic broke in his first two service games and quickly built a 5-0 advantage. After Kukushkin hung on for one more game, last year’s champ booked his spot in the Round of 16 and came out victorious in the four hour match.
Cilic will next play the winner of the match between the seventh-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer and 27th-seeded Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.
