Cilic survives scare to reach third round

By Pritha Sarkar LONDON (Reuters) - A double fault by the narrowest of margins allowed Marin Cilic to complete a great escape at Wimbledon on Wednesday as the U.S. Open champion lived to fight another day with a heart-pumping five-set victory over Ricardas Berankis. The Lithuanian journeyman appeared to be on the verge of pulling off a shock upset when he held two break points at 5-5 in the fifth set. But Croatian Cilic saved the first with a forehand winner and blew out his cheeks in relief when he saw Berankis's forehand drop long on the second. One game later it was all over as Hawkeye confirmed Berankis's second serve at match point down missed the line by millimeters, allowing Cilic to win 6-3 4-6 7-6(6) 4-6 7-5 and book a third-round clash with American John Isner. "It was very thrilling and the match was really high quality from both ends and Ricardas was playing extremely well today," Cilic said after both players were given a standing ovation by the Centre Court crowd. "He was hitting the ball very well and causing me a lot of trouble. It was a little bit dramatic at the end of the fifth set as I was saving a couple of break points at 5-all. It was thrilling, very thrilling." Cilic and Berankis had been scheduled to play the third match on the more intimate surroundings of Court Three but after the Croatian's U.S. Open final victim Kei Nishikori pulled out of his second round contest injured, they were switched on to tennis' most famous stage. The duo did not disappoint as they ignored the searing heat -- on what was being called the hottest day ever at the grasscourt major with the mercury soaring to 93 degrees Fahrenheit -- to go toe-to-toe for more than 3-1/2 hours. No quarter was given by either player and Berankis even threatened to decapitate umpire Mohamed Lahyani late in the fifth set, delivering a bruising body blow as he attempted to return a Cilic thunderbolt. The ninth seed kept his focus to reach match point when world number 90 Berankis dipped a forehand wide and was a relieved bystander when the next two serves missed their targets. "I'm just really glad that I won and that the most positive things from today are that I was serving really, really well and I was staying mentally in the match," said Cilic, who belted down 28 aces. "I think nerves got to Ricardas at the end and that decided it." (Reporting by Pritha Sarkar, editing by Ed Osmond and Ken Ferris)