Marin Cilic shocks Andy Murray to win first Cincinnati Masters title
Murray's 22-match unbeaten streak came to an end after losing to Cilic in the final of the Cincinnati Masters.
Andy Murray's 22-match winning streak was brought to end on 21 August with Marin Cilic shocking the Scot to win the 2016 Cincinnati Masters. Cilic, who failed to reach the semi-final stage in his last 70 Masters appearances, upset Murray 6-4, 7-5 to claim his maiden Masters title.
The final loss brought to an end a 22-game run for Murray, the longest undefeated stretch of his career which saw him win titles at the Queen's Club, Wimbledon and the recently concluded 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The Scot, who has won the title twice in the past, was looking to join Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Mats Wilander as the only players to win the trophy three times in the Open Era.
Cilic was not expected to cause an upset, but his first serve dominance helped him defeat Murray. This win has also helped him move back into the top 10 ATP rankings.
Despite the loss, the British number one was proud of his performances considering he came straight into the tournament on the back of the Olympics. The Scot was happy that he could manage a final appearance without rest and was now looking to get some much needed downtime.
"I'm very proud of this week. Obviously today it didn't go how I would've wanted. But I certainly didn't expect to get to the final when I arrived here. I had some pretty good wins along the way. Today there were tough, tricky conditions with the wind," Murray said at the post-match press conference.
"I think if I got off to a better start maybe could have done a bit better. I had a break point in his first service game and Love-30 in his next service game. I was pretty much behind from that point on and it was tough. But it's a very, very positive week. I'm looking forward to a few days rest now," the world number two added.
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