Tennis: Cilic knocks out de Minaur on day of upsets in Dubai

Marin Cilic stunned second seed Alex de Minaur at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday, headlining a day of upsets that resulted in four of the top eight seeds dropping out in the opening round of the ATP 500 tournament.

No.3 seed Andrey Rublev, No.6 seed Grigor Dimitrov and No.8 seed Arthur Fils were also beaten, causing tennis betting sites to further shorten top seed Daniil Medvedev’s odds of winning the event.

The Russian is now paying just $4.50 at Marantelli Bet to claim the Dubai title, ahead of Felix Auger-Aliassime ($5) and Ugo Humbert ($6).

Cilic was at a long $9 to defeat de Minaur, with the veteran languishing at No.187 in the world after prolonged injury issues.

However, the 2014 US Open champion wound back the clock to prevail 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, striking 27 winners along the way.

“It was a great start for me,” Cilic said after the two-hour, 17-minute match.

“Winning the first three games, getting a feel for the court, the conditions.”

Cilic capitalised on all four opportunities he had to break de Minaur’s serve, while he saved five of seven break points on his own.

“It was a little bit gusty, but I was feeling the ball extremely well,” he said.

“I know how dangerous Alex is.

“He is an incredible runner on the court, he gets some balls that nobody gets.

“I had to stay patient but aggressive.

“I’m just so pleased that I was able to keep that great level throughout the whole match.”

The Croat now faces another Aussie in Alexei Popyrin, who beat Hady Habib on Sunday.

Top online bookmakers favour Popyrin, pricing the 25-year-old at $1.66 to make the third round.

Australian Christopher O’Connell also advanced to the next round, beating Dimitrov 6-0 in the first set before the Bulgarian retired injured.

He takes on the in-form Matteo Berrettini as a heavy underdog across tennis bookies after the Italian raced past France’s Gael Monfils 7-5, 6-4.

Monfils’ compatriots in Dubai were involved in the day’s other upsets, with qualifier Quentin Halys upsetting Rublev 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) while top Frenchman Fils crashed out 6-2, 6-1 to Nuno Borges.

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