By Chris Oddo | Monday November 14, 2016
Andy Murray made relatively light work of Marin Cilic in his first round-robin match (and first match as a reigning World No.1) at the ATP Finals, collecting a 6-3, 6-2 win that took 90 minutes and put him atop the John McEnroe Group standings.
Watch: Angles Get Mangled at ATP Finals
The Scotsman’s 20th consecutive win was in his grasp from start to finish despite the fact that it took Murray more than a set to find his comfort zone against the World No. 7.
Cilic did manage a break on one of Murray’s 14 unforced errors in the first set to get back on serve at 1-2 in set one, but Murray broke immediately back and held the rest of the way to take the opener. He served out the ninth game at love, closing the set when a Cilic backhand crosscourt sailed wide.
In the second set Murray broke for 3-2 with a booming forehand down-the-line winner and reeled off the final give games to clinch his 12th victory in 15 career matches with Cilic.
The victory helps Murray in his push to lock up the season-ending No.1 ranking. But he has plenty of work to do. Novak Djokovic can overtake Murray with a title in London. The Serb defeated Dominic Thiem in three sets in his London opener on Sunday and will face Milos Raonic on Tuesday.
Murray improves to 74-9 on the season and 12-11 lifetime at the ATP Finals. Cilic drops to 47-22 on the season and falls to 0-4 lifetime at the ATP Finals.