Stan Wawrinka vs Marin Cilic Preview – ATP World Tour Finals 2014 RR

Stan Wawrinka vs Marin Cilic Preview – ATP World Tour Finals 2014 RR

  • Posted: Nov 14, 2014

 Stan Wawrinka vs Marin Cilic Preview – ATP World Tour Finals 2014 RR

 

The last of the group stage matches will feature a rather disappointing culmination for both Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic. While the Swiss No. 2 has managed one victory in Group A, Cilic, the reigning US Open champion, has gone 0-2 since the start of his debut at the year-end championships. Now, he will look to end his lackluster campaign on a high note, against a player who bageled him in their only previous meeting on the tour.

After taking part in some of the best matches of the last couple of years against Novak Djokovic, Wawrinka was simply unable to kick start the latest chapter in their storied rivalry in successful fashion. While he held an immedialte break advantage for a 2-0 lead early in the match, Wawrinka would go on to lose 12 of the next 13 games to lose 6-3, 6-0 to his Serbian adversary.

“It was not my best match, that’s for sure,” said Wawrinka. “He’s playing really well. He’s (has) confidence. He’s not missing much. Today I think it was more about what I was doing. He put me in a position that I think a little bit too much. I was not really clear what I’m going to do, because he’s doing everything well and he’s returning well.”

Faced with an opportunity to remain in the running for a semi-final berth in London, Marin Cilic failed to do so and eventually lost his second round robin to Berdych 6-3, 6-1 in 75 minutes. It allowed Berdych to maintain his perfect record in second round robin matches at the event.

“It seems that the things that I’m doing that are all basically going in a wrong direction,” said Cilic. “Especially with these guys at this kind of level, even small mistakes, or if you’re not at your best performances, the outcome is not going to be going in your favor. It’s unfortunate. I was looking forward to play here, to do well, to play good matches on a high level. It’s tough to handle.”

This marks just the second time that these two competitors will meet on the professional tour, with Wawrinka leading the head-to-head series 1-0. Their last encounter went three sets, but Cilic only managed to win 1 of 13 games in the second two sets to lose the match 3-6, 6-0, 6-1. Based on his current form in London, it would be hard to imagine him winning many more games against Wawrinka this time around.

Prediction: Stan Wawrinka in Straight Sets