Cilic downed by Schwartzman as bottom half of U.S. Open opens up
Sep 1, 2017; New York, NY, USA; Marin Cilic of Croatia returns a shot to Diego Schwartzman of Argentina on day five of the U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former champion Marin Cilic's U.S. Open campaign ended on Friday when the Croatian fifth seed was beaten 4-6 7-5 7-5 6-4 by Argentine counter-puncher Diego Schwartzman in the third round.
Cilic, who skipped the U.S. Open warm-up tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati due to injury, hit 80 unforced errors in an untidy display on Grandstand three years after he lifted the trophy at Flushing Meadows.
Schwartzman, seeded 29th after reaching the Rogers Cup final in Montreal, was overwhelmed in the opening set before finding his range to frustrate Cilic.
Sep 1, 2017; New York, NY, USA; Diego Schwartzman of Argentina returns a shot to Marin Cilic of Croatia on day five of the U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
In a bottom half of a draw without a grand slam finalist and where American John Isner is now the highest seed at number 10, Schwartzman will take on either France's Lucas Pouille or Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin for a quarter-final spot.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot,; Editing by Ed Osmond)
Sep 1, 2017; New York, NY, USA; Marin Cilic of Croatia returns a shot to Diego Schwartzman of Argentina on day five of the U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY SportsSep 1, 2017; New York, NY, USA; Diego Schwartzman of Argentina celebrates after match point against Marin Cilic of Croatia on day five of the U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY SportsSep 1, 2017; New York, NY, USA; Diego Schwartzman of Argentina (left) and Marin Cilic of Croatia shake hands after their match on day five of the U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports
Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
