Dream return for Cilic after nightmare
Croatian wins first match back after serving four-month ban for doping, insisting he is not a cheat
Croatia’s Marin Cilic marked his return from a doping ban with a first-round victory at the Paris Masters on Monday and expressed his delight at being back on court.
His hard-fought, three-set victory over Dutchman Igor Sijsling was the perfect tonic following a difficult time for the former grand slam semi-finalist.
Cilic, 25, currently ranked 47th in the world, tested positive for the stimulant nikethamide at the Munich Open in May and was banned for nine months by an independent tribunal in September.
However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced the ban to four months last Friday meaning the sanction expired one day later and allowed him to take his place in the tournament.
After dropping a tense opening set, Cilic bounced back to set up a showdown against world number five Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 victory.
“I felt like a kid playing tennis for the first time,” said an exuberant Cilic, who reached the 2010 Australian Open last four and quarter-finals of the US Open in 2009 and 2012.