Tomas Berdych overcomes Marin Cilic challenge

World number seven Tomas Berdych progressed through to round three of the Monte Carlo Masters with a victory over Marin Cilic this afternoon.

Berdych looked to be heading for comfortable opening set success when he broke his Croatian opponent early in the contest.

However, Cilic responded with a break of his own as Berdych prepared to serve for the set, forcing a tie-break in the process.

Despite appearing to have the momentum heading into the breaker, Cilic could only muster three points as Berdych played his way to a 7-3 win.

Cilic's failure in the tie-break seemed to damage his confidence in the next set as Berdych raced into a 5-0 lead.

Cilic did manage to hold his serve for the only time in the next game, before Berdych served out for a 7-6 6-1 win.

The Czech player will take on either Kei Nishikori or Paul-Henri Mathieu in the next round.