Marin Cilic Knocked out of the Basel Open

Qualifier Marius Copil produced the upset of the day as he dispatched the Croatian Marin Cilic in straight sets at the Swiss Indoors in Basel 7-5, 7-6 (7-2). The latter half of 2018 seems to have been an uphill journey for Cilic, as he has struggled to put a string of wins together. Cilic had very early exits in Shanghai as well as in China, and it was no different in Basel as well.

A shocking first serve percentage of 39%, and a string of unforced errors, saw Cilic succumb to the world number 93. On the other hand, Marius Copil fired down 21 aces in the match, setting up a meeting with Taylor Fritz in the next round. Meanwhile, the German Alexander Zverev had a much easier time as he swept aside the showman Robin Haase in straight sets 6-4, 7-5.

In doing so Zverev became the first player to accumulate 50 wins in 2018. The Greek, Stefanos Tsitsipas, after his spectacular run last week in Stockholm, looked to be in fine touch as he brushed aside Jeremy Chardy in straight sets 6-2, 7-6 (7-3). Ernests Gulbis, last week’s finalist, is also through to the next round, as he ousted Jack Sock in straight sets 7-5, 6-4.

Elsewhere, Kevin Anderson progressed to the next round of the Vienna Open, without even playing the match, as his opponent, the veteran Jurgen Melzer withdrew from the tournament. Anderson is looking to seal his place at the ATP world tour finals, before he heads off to the Paris Masters 1000 later. Kyke Edmund overcame a tough opponent in the form of Diego Schwartzman 6-3, 7-6 (7-3). Borna Coric, Gael Monfils and Karen Khachanov, all progressed into the next round with positive results. It was not the same fortune for the Bulgarian, Grigor Dimitrov, as he was upset by Mikhail Kukushkin in the very first round in a three set affair 6-4 4-6 6-4 at the Vienna Open.