Twelfth seed Marin Cilic eased through to the Australian Open third round today with a professional display against American qualifier Rajeev Ram.
Cilic was pushed deep into the first set by his opponent, who stayed strong on serve until the 12th game and where a lapse in concentration handed the seed a 7-5 success.
Ram's resistance slowed up in the second set as the unforgiving Melbourne heat saw both players rely on strong serving to shorten important points.
Cilic adapted better and claimed a two-set advantage thanks to a double break.
The Croatian was pushed much harder by Ram in the third but once again he finished the set strongly to complete a straight-sets win 7-5 6-2 6-4.
Andreas Seppi awaits Cilic in the third round after he beat Denis Istomin earlier today.
Liam Power
