Johnson beats Cilic in first round of Cologne Championships

Steve Johnson won 7-6 (3), 6-4 to set up a second-round match with Damir Dzumhur or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

Former US Open champion Marin Cilic lost to Steve Johnson in the first round of Cologne Championships.

Steve Johnson upset former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic to reach the second round of the Cologne Championships.

Johnson won 7-6 (3), 6-4 to set up a second-round match with Damir Dzumhur or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Monday.

The first set went with serve before Johnson won the tiebreaker, and the American followed up by breaking Cilic to love in the first game of the second.

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Eighth-seeded Adrian Mannarino won against lucky loser Alexei Popyrin 6-2, 6-2 in their first-round match. Mannarino faces Miomir Kecmanovic in the second round.

Japanese player Yoshihito Nishioka reached the second round after beating Britain’s Kyle Edmund 6-4, 6-0. He next plays seventh-seeded Jan-Lennard Struff or Marco Cecchinato.

The Cologne Championships is the second of two back-to-back ATP tournaments in the German city. They were added to the calendar following the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Alexander Zverev won the first tournament on Sunday.