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  • Cilic enters Monte-Carlo as fourth seed

    4/12/10 2:50 AM | Kelli DeMario
    Cilic enters Monte-Carlo as fourth seed Profiting from the absence of a host of top 10 players, Marin Cilic kicks off the 2010 Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters as the headliner for his quarter of the draw. The 21-year-old, ranked World No. 9, is the fourth seed at the tournament.

    Marin Cilic commences his fourth Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters seeded fourth, right behind Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray. The 21-year-old Croat garnered top billing for his quarter of the draw, as a host of top 10 players, including World No. 1 Roger Federer, Juan Martin Del Potro, Nikolay Davydenko, Andy Roddick and Robin Soderling, were unable to make the trip to Monaco.

    Cilic holds a solid 20-4 record heading into the Monte-Carlo event, bolstered by a successful title defense in Chennai (def. Wawrinka) and a championship-winning run in Zagreb (def. Berrer). Though typically noted for his ability on hard-courts, the 21-year-old has made progress on clay. After reaching the round of 16 in Rome last year (lost to Monaco), Cilic followed with a fourth-round finish at Roland Garros (lost to Murray).

    Cilic is located in the same section as Fernando Verdasco, 2010 Miami finalist Tomas Berdych and Marcos Baghdatis. Additional competitors in the Croat’s section are: Igor Andreev, Julien Benneteau, Feliciano Lopez, Albert Montanes, Andreas Seppi and wildcard entrant Richard Gasquet.

    Following a bye in the first round, Cilic takes on tricky clay-court opponent Andreev in round two. Should he pass through the second round, Cilic looks toward a round of 16 encounter with solid clay-courter Montanes or an in-form Baghdatis.

    Verdasco is the second highest seed in the quarter at No. 6. Like Cilic, Verdasco received an opening-round bye. Berdych looms as a potential third-round challenge for the Spaniard, who opens his 2010 bid against either veteran Frenchman Benneteau or qualifier Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr.




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