Cilic thrills home crowd

Umag - Fourth-seeded Marin Cilic beat Dutchman Robin Haase 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of his home country's Croatia Open tournament.

Cilic had to work hard, rallying from one set down and saving seven out of nine break points in over two hours of play for the victory.

Haase broke in the 10th game of the first set, but double-faulted at another break point in the opening game of the second set. Cilic took control from then on.

Cilic will next face Italian Andreas Seppi, who defeated Diego Junqueira from Argentina 7-5, 6-1.

Another Italian, Fabio Fognini, also reached the quarter-finals by defeating Olivier Rochus from Belgium 6-4, 6-1. Rochus led 3-1 in the first set, but only won two games afterward.

Results on Thursday from Croatia Open played on outdoor clay at the Sol Stella Maris resort (seedings in parentheses):

Singles

Second Round

Marin Cilic (4), Croatia, def. Robin Haase, Netherlands, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Fabio Fognini (6), Italy, def. Olivier Rochus, Belgium, 6-4, 6-1.
Andreas Seppi (7), Italy, def. Diego Junqueira, Argentina, 7-5, 6-1.
Potito Starace, Italy, def, Juan Ignacio Chela (1), Argentina, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.