Cilic wins first career title in New Haven

No. 6 seed Marin Cilic (pictured) defeated American Mardy Fish, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, to win his first career ATP singles title at the Pilot Pen Tennis in New Haven on Saturday night. Cilic’s best results of the season entering New Haven were semifinal performances at Nottingham (England) and Chennai (India).

The teenager from Croatia got off to a very fast start by breaking Fish during the first service game. Cilic finished the first set by losing only six points on his serve. In the second set, Fish was the first player to break, going up 2-0, before eventually breaking Cilic at 5-4 to claim the second set. After exchanging breaks to start the final set, Cilic gained complete control and cruised to a 6-2 final set win after hitting a crushing 11th ace to earn the title. Winners and unforced errors played a big part in the Saturday evening contest, as Cilic hit 25 winners and 20 unforced errors to Fish’s 27 errors and 31 unforced errors. With the win, the 6-foot-6 big hitting right-hander joined a group of seven first time ATP singles champions this season.

"I am feeling very excited," Cilic said after the match. "The match was a little bit thrilling. It was a lot of ups and downs from both of us. But eventually in the third set I got my thoughts back and my rhythm. I was really pumped up when I had to be. Really enjoyed the moment in the end."

The 35th ranked Fish, who also lost the Masters Series Indian Wells final in March, obviously wasn’t as excited.

"I would have liked to have played better," he said . "This is my 11th final and I've only won twice. It's starting to really sting, nine times losing. I've got a lot of runner-up trophies in my office in my house. These are the ones I need to get."

Cilic earned $94,000 for the victory and will be ranked at a career high No. 24 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings that will be released on Monday. Fish has now finished as runner-up for the second straight year, losing to close friend James Blake last year.