Marin Cilic vs Fabian Marozsan Prediction

Marin Cilic vs Fabian Marozsan

Jan 14, 2024

Marin Cilic +110 / Fabian Marozsan -133

Former Australian Open finalist Marin Cilic will face Hungary's new star, Fabian Marozsan, in the first round of the 2024 Australian Open. The match will be played on Sunday, January 14, 2024. Here's a Marin Cilic vs Fabian Marozsan prediction.

Marin Cilic

Marin Cilic will play in his first Grand Slam tournament since the 2022 US Open, where he reached the fourth round. Attaining such a result at this year's Australian Open would be an incredible accomplishment for a man who is set to turn 36 in September and who is coming off a career-threatening knee surgery. The Croat's chronic knee condition limited him to just two appearances last season. He played in January at the Pune Open and rushed his comeback to appear in his home tournament in Umag during the European summer, only to realize he was not ready. However, he appears to have recovered from the injury and played two excellent matches to start the new season. Cilic was unfortunate not to win his opening match in Hong Kong, where he wasted a staggering NINE match points in defeat to Jan-Lennard Struff, but did pick up his first win of the new season at the Kooyong Classic, where he defeated Andy Murray in a straight sets, albeit in an exhibition.

Fabian Marozsan

Fabian Marozsan, meanwhile, had been making his living on the ATP Challenger Tour before his big breakthrough. But a stunning win over Carlos Alcaraz on his ATP tournament debut in Rome last season made everyone take notice of his talents. The 24-year-old has risen to become Hungary's No. 1 player. Currently sitting in the world's Top 70, Marozsan opened his 2024 campaign with defeat at the hands of Roberto Bautista Agut in Hong Kong. But he bounced back superbly in Adelaide when he knocked out Gael Monfils in three entertaining sets. He lost to Ben Shelton in the subsequent round.

Marin Cilic vs Fabian Marozsan prediction

Cilic and Marozsan have never played at any level, but the gulf in experience is vast. Marozsan will play in just his third Grand Slam main draw and will be chasing his second win. His first arrived at last year's US Open when he took down another veteran, Richard Gasquet, in five sets. It is unlikely that Marozsan will top his career-best win over Alcaraz, but beating a former Grand Slam champion will certainly be a momentous occasion for him, and he's got an incredibly astute baseline game to do it. Fitness certainly favors the Hungarian. Whether Marin Cilic's knee can withstand the mileage of playing a best-of-five set match remains the biggest question mark here. The wisest move in this one is to back BOTH players to win at least one set at -200.

The pick in this article is the opinion of the writer, not a PickDawgz site consensus.