Mixed Fortunes For Marin.

Don’t look now – I SAID DON’T LOOK!!! – but Marin won a match in Zagreb, where he’s the two-time defending champion, beating Igor Kunitsyn 76(3) 62. He’ll be facing Florian Mayer in the quarterfinals after Stupid Flowery Girlie Girl beat Radek Stepanek in three sets. Mayer, let us not forget, is the man who dismissed Marin in straight sets at Wimbledon last year before the horrified eyes of yours truly, and he recently beat Nikolay Davydenko in the first round of the Australian Open.

This isn’t going to end well for the Mariners, is what I’m saying.

Marin fared slightly worse in the doubles, as he (somewhat bizarrely) teamed up with sometime(s) coach and tournament director Goran Ivanisevic to lose to Filip Polasek and Ivan Zelenay in straight sets, in a match that was mainly memorable for (i) Goran’s inability to get a serve in the court, (ii) Goran cracking Marin up on changeovers, and (iii) this ridiculous pair of trick shots by Polasek, which you can watch here.

But have some photos anyway, because it’s been scientifically proven that there is nothing more pictorially engrossing than a pair of lanky Croatians playing doubles. Also … Marin actually makes Goran look a little bit fat, or at least three-dimensional.

 

 

Elsewhere, Johannesburg has been mainly notable for the exploits of a couple of Canadians; Milos Raonic, who beat second seed Yen-Hsun Lu before losing to Simon Greul in the second round, and Frank Dancevic, currently ranked 234, who knocked out defending champion Feliciano Lopez in a rain-interrupted match that went to 10-8 in a third set tiebreak.

And in Santiago, the hotness of the tournament took a blow when Juan Monaco lost to hermano Maximo Gonzalez in the first round, but is still ensured after David Nalbandian beat Carlos Berlocq in three and Thomaz Bellucci, defending champion, is into the quarterfinals after Rui Machado. As a reward, he got to meet the Chilean Minister of the Interior.

He looks pretty happy about it, I suppose.

Zagreb: Marin On Top Again

Marin Cilic is now 15-1 in 2010, having defended in Zagreb to pick up his second title of 2010 by defeating Michael Berrer 64 67(5) 63.

Giant clown feet! Love it.

A somewhat ragged performance by Marin, who failed to capitalise on repeatedly putting himself in good positions on Berrer’s serve throughout the second set, and made it through the third set on more or less pure adrenaline. More than understandable, though, and he did fantastically to bring home the win in front of his home crowd. I’m stupidly pleased for him.

Hopefully now he can get some good rest, recover and get ready to build on this fantastic start throughout the rest of 2010. And carry on working with Goran, because I need more of this sort of thing:

Much more.

Marin. Goran. This I Have To See.

Fresh from his Australian Open semifinal appearance, brand new into the top ten and back home in Zagreb, Marin Cilic has announced he is working with Goran Ivanisevic on a trial basis.

It was Goran of course who gave Marin his first big break, recommending him to current coach Bob Brett when he was a teenager. Now according to this article they’re working together on a trial basis during the Zagreb tournament. If the arrangement does become more permanent, it doesn’t say whether Ivanisevic will replace Brett or not, but I highly doubt it and Brett doesn’t travel with him all the time anyway. 

I can’t imagine two more different personalities; cool-as-a-cucumber Marin and the mad, bad daddy of Croatian tennis. I have a strong feeling this could be amazing.

They’ve already been training together:

So. Excited.

In sadder Marin news, apparently his maternal grandmother died last Wednesday before the semifinal. This after his paternal grandmother died two years ago during the Australian Open. Poor Marin.