Fluent Cilic progresses into quarterfinals

Pune: Top seed Marin Cilic unleashed his power-packed game to move into the singles quarterfinals of the Tata Open Maharashtra as the World No. 17 beat Roberto Carballes Baena in a three-setter here on Wednesday.Serving big, moving fluently on the court and executing smart drop shots, the tall Croatian won the second round 6-3 3-6 6-1 against the world number 74 from Spain at the Balewadi Stadium.Except for a brief period when he struggled to contain unforced errors in the second set, Cilic kept the match in his grip. Cilic fired 16 aces in the contest that he won in two hours and two minutes.Second seed Botic Van De Zandschulp though had to battle hard in his match before prevailing over Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli, placed 171 on the ATP singles chart. The Dutch player won 7-5 6-4 after battling it out for one hour and 33 minutes to set up a last-eight clash against the German qualifier Maximilian Marterer, who sent packing Serbian, Laslo Djere 7-6(5) 6-2.