Daniel sets up clash with Cilic in Singapore
Taro Daniel defeated Ramkumar Ramanathan in the first round of Singapore Open on Monday.
SINGAPORE (AFP) - Japan s Taro Daniel defeated India s Ramkumar Ramanathan on Monday in a three-set fight to set up a second-round clash with Croatia s Marin Cilic at the Singapore Open.
Daniel won the first set 6-3 but Ramanathan came back to take the second 6-7, prevailing in the tiebreaker.
But the Japanese player won the third set 6-3, sealing his victory with a solid forehand volley.
"In tennis, you ll always have a chance to have that big break -- I think I m playing well enough to give myself that chance," Daniel said.
"There s going to be more rallies so I definitely have to be on top of my service game, pressuring him (Cilic) with my serve and moving him around because that s probably going to his weakness, if there is one".
Third seed Cilic has set his sights on re-discovering the kind of form which led him to 19 ATP singles titles and the US Open in 2014.
"When you lose a few matches, you start to doubt yourself. But looking ahead at this year, I feel I can definitely make my comeback," said the world number 43.
In the day s other singles matches, American Maxime Cressy enjoyed a straight-sets 7-6, 6-2 victory over Taiwan s Jason Jung while Bulgarian wildcard Adrian Andreev took down South Africa s Lloyd Harris 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Australia s Alexei Popyrin won his first encounter with American qualifier Christopher Eubanks 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5).
Japan s Yoshihito Nishioka beat Michael Mmoh 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in an hour and 58 minutes.
