Garin survives Cilic, advances into Rome quarters

On Thursday, Chilean tennis ace Cristian Garin survived a second-set collapse to outlast Marin Cilic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 and advance into the quarterfinals of the ATP Masters 1000 in Rome.

After winning the opening set in only 49 minutes, Garin found himself in a world of trouble in the second as Cilic managed to hit him with crisp forehands and sizzling backhands to force a deciding set.

However, Garin managed to remain calm under tremendous pressure as he closed out the match with a tightly-contested 6-4 set victory to seal his spot in the next round.

It was Garin’s first win against Cilic in three matches and, more importantly, his first quarterfinal appearance in an ATP Masters 1000 tournament since the Madrid Open in 2021.

An acid test awaits the 25-year old Garin next as he is set to face the third-ranked Alexander Zverev, who is eyeing to rebound from a heartbreaking finals loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid Masters.