Croatia’s Marin Cilic continued his strong comeback this season by reaching the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open 2014 Indian Wells on Tuesday with a victory over Spaniard Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 22 minutes. Cilic became the first player on tour to reach 20 career match victories this season. His next opponent is world number two Novak Djokovic who is well aware of his game.
“He’s more aggressive,” said Djokovic. “He’s using his serve as a big advantage nowadays, and also I feel like he’s moving better on the court. I have been watching him playing some big matches. He won against [Andy] Murray in Rotterdam in straight sets. He can definitely can play. And not just play, I mean, he can win against top players. That’s why I do not even for a second underestimate him.
“I’m coming into the match knowing that I’m going to have to be playing on top of my game in order to win that match. I’m going to get myself ready for it.”
The former world number 9 has reached three straight finals last month with title wins in Zagreb and Delray Beach. He reached the final of the ATP 500 ABN AMRO in Rotterdam where he lost to Tomas Berdych.
