World Tour Finals: Cilic claims consolation win

Kei Nishikori suffered a morale-sapping defeat ahead of his last-four meeting with Novak Djokovic at the ATP World Tour Finals, as Marin Cilic finally broke his duck at the O2 Arena.

Friday's last round-robin match had nothing riding on it besides ranking points and pride after Andy Murray's 6-4 6-2 triumph over Stan Wawrinka earlier in the day.

Wawrinka's defeat guaranteed Nishikori a place in the semi-finals and the Japanese initially looked set to celebrate with a routine win.

However, after taking the opening set with a degree of comfort, Nishikori's level dropped alarmingly and Cilic took full advantage to prevail 3-6 6-2 6-3 and record his first victory at this tournament at the sixth time of asking.

Cilic will move up to a career-high position of sixth in the world rankings as a result of his success.

An error-strewn second-set performance from Nishikori allowed Cilic back into the contest, but the Croatian produced some wonderful play in the decider - a backhand return winner to earn a crucial break of serve at 2-2 among the highlights.

 

STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN Cilic [7] bt Nishikori [5] 3-6 6-2 6-3   ACES  Cilic - 16  Nishikori - 1 BREAK POINTS WON  Cilic - 4/5 Nishikori - 2/3  FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGE  Cilic - 55  Nishikori - 64  PERCENTAGE OF POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVE  Cilic - 81/46 Nishikori - 64/44  TOTAL POINTS  Cilic - 82 Nishikori - 69