Sunday 19 October 2014 17:08, UK
Marin Cilic clinched his first ATP Tour title since winning the US Open after recording a 6-4 6-4 win against Roberto Bautista Agut in the final of the Kremlin Cup.
The Croatian qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday and completed a successful weekend with victory in Moscow.
Cilic did not drop his serve and broke his Spanish opponent three times during the course of the win, which he wrapped up in an hour and 24 minutes.
Three of the six break points Cilic had to save came in his first service game of the match but having come through that test he snagged a break of his own in the halfway through the opening set.
Bautista Agut dropped serve again in the first game of the second set and Cilic held firm to make it over the line and take his fourth title of the year.
"It's one of my career's most important titles because after winning a grand slam event you lose a lot of energy and emotions and it was very important for me to bounce back," Cilic said.
"I feel that a win here will be a serious push forward for my career and very important for my further progress.
"Today I still wasn't able to serve really big bombs. I played more from the baseline and we had plenty of long and physical rallies. It was a really tough match, as I expected."
Cilic’s Moscow campaign has moved him ahead of Novak Djokovic on the list of total ATP match wins in 2014. The 26-year-old now has 54 under his belt, with only Roger Federer (61) owning more.
