Marin Cilic became the latest seed to topple out of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Thursday, the world number nine suffering a shock 7-6 7-5 defeat to Juergen Melzer.
Marin Cilic became the latest seed to topple out of the Dubai Tennis Championships on Thursday, the world number nine suffering a shock 7-6 7-5 defeat to Juergen Melzer.
Cilic beat Melzer at the Zagreb Indoors earlier this month but it was the Austrian who came out on top this time around, much to his delight.
"There were very tough conditions, with hot weather and the balls flying," Melzer said.
"I kept my game together after being 4-1 down (in the first set) and then played an almost perfect match."
Cilic, to his credit, was magnanimous in defeat despite blowing an excellent chance to win his third tournament of the year in light of the surprisingly early exits of Andy Murray, Nikolay Davydenko, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon.
"I was hitting the ball well and serving good," the Serb said of his promising start against Melzer. "Then I had a little bit of a rushed game on my serve and I lost three or four points in a row. From there, he started to play better. Melzer deserved it."
Melzer will now play Mikhail Youzhny in the semi-finals after the Russian saw off Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic 6-3 6-4.