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6 years ago

Third seeded Cilic crashes out in third round  

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Third seed Marin Cilic let a two-set lead slip as he was knocked out in the second round of Wimbledon by Argentina's Guido Pella on Thursday.

Last year's beaten finalist was well in control before rain halted proceedings on Wednesday evening.

But, on the resumption, Pella improved and wrapped up the third set and took the fourth on a tie-break.

And the world number 82 held his nerve to convert his fourth match point and win 3-6 1-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 7-5.

It is the biggest win of Pella's career and he is now in the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, reports BBC.

"The rain coming helped me a lot," the 28-year-old, who had not won a match at Wimbledon in his two previous visits, told BBC Sport.

"Yesterday he was playing so, so well and I couldn't do anything.

"Today, I started to play more aggressively and fight for every ball and that is why I won. Grass isn't my favourite surface but I started to feel more confident and served a lot better."

On Friday, Pella will play American world number 103 Mackenzie Mcdonald who will also be making his first appearance in the last 32 of a major.

"Every time you win a match in a Grand Slam it is a good feeling," he added.

"Tomorrow is a different match and we will both have pressure so it will be a tense match but I will try to be calm and win."

Three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka was another to be eliminated. The Swiss, who has dropped to 224 in the world after a series of injuries, lost 7-6 (9-7) 6-3 7-6 (8-6) to Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano.

But US Open finalist and eighth seed Kevin Anderson advanced after a 6-3 6-7 6-3 6-4 victory over Fabbiano's compatriot Andreas Seppi.

American ninth seed John Isner sent down 64 aces in his four-set success against Belgian qualifier Ruben Bemelmans - the third-highest number of aces in a match at Wimbledon after the 113 and 110 managed by Isner and Nicolas Mahut respectively in their record-breaking marathon encounter in 2010.

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