Marin Cilic Married, Drops First ATP Singles Match Back
By Harry Floyd
Marin Cilic celebrated his marriage a little over a week ago before coming into the Istanbul Open. The top seed is stunned in his first match back.
Croatian tennis star Marin Cilic is back to action on the 2018 ATP World Tour after celebrating his marriage just over a week ago. He comes into the Istanbul Open as the top seed. Cilic is the current world No. 4 in men’s singles tennis. Earlier this year, he finished runner up to Swiss superstar Roger Federer at the Australian Open. The win at Melbourne Park was Federer’s 20th career Grand Slam. Cilic has held his own, however, throughout all of 2018.
That’s part of the reason why his opening round loss at Istanbul is so shocking. It isn’t anything to worry about moving forward, but it’s disappointing for the newlywed. Cilic falls to Tunisia’s Malek Jaziri. His opponent takes the meeting in straight sets, winning 6-4, 6-2.
More from Lob and Smash
- Caroline Wozniacki gets her wild card for the Australian Open
- Tennis News: Rafael Nadal, Emma Raducanu and protected rankings
- Martina Navratilova: Money lost by coming out was in the ‘millions’
- Tennis News: Novak Djokovic, Nick Kyrgios and Matteo Berrettini
- Boris Becker and Rick Macci bicker over Carlos Alcaraz
It appears as though Cilic was also dealing with some knees issues during his time in Istanbul. We will continue to follow him in the coming days to make sure it isn’t anything serious. Elsewhere in men’s singles tennis, several veteran greats continue to battle injuries or make comebacks to the tour. Serbian superstar Novak Djokovic is back this year after not playing since Wimbledon 2017. He has seen ups and downs in his 2018 tournaments so far, continuing to fight through his ongoing right elbow injury. Japanese great Kei Nishikori has seen some solid tournament runs after making his own return to the singles action.
Marin Cilic falls to Malek Jaziri in straight sets at the Istanbul Open.
The wold No. 4 came into play this week as the defending champion. Last year, he took down Milos Raonic to win the title. The upsets is nothing to worry about right now though. All eyes are on the 2018 French Open. With the Grand Slam rapidly approaching, Marin Cilic and other top players on the ATP World Tour are looking for any and all momentum they can gather. Rafael Nadal must be considered the favorite at Roland Garros.