ROTTERDAM: Top seed Marin Cilic reached his first quarter-final of 2017 on Thursday when he overcame Croatian compatriot Borna Coric 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 at the Rotterdam World Tennis event. Cilic, who had just one victory this year going into the Ahoy stadium tournament, improved to a perfect 3-0 over Coric, whose career was sidelined last autumn by injury. “It’s always tough to play a countryman and Borna has been doing well in his comeback. It was not an easy match, even after winning the first set fast,” said former US Open champion Cilic. “Borna has proved himself as a ‘next-gen’ player. Maybe he didn’t have the best season due to his knee surgery, but he’s playing quite consistently.”