Canada’s Milos Raonic falls to Croatia’s Marin Cilic in Istanbul final

ISTANBUL – Canada’s Milos Raonic fell just short of a title in his first tournament since recovering from a hamstring injury, falling 7-6 (3), 6-3 to Croatia’s Marin Cilic in Sunday’s Istanbul Open final.

Raonic, the top seed in Istanbul, had not played on the ATP Tour since withdrawing from the Miami Open in March.

“The tennis was good and I achieved a lot of the things I would have liked,” said Raonic, who was trying for his ninth ATP title. “Of course I didn’t achieve the ultimate thing, but I got a much better understanding of how I need to play on clay and I got to play four matches. These are all positive things at the end of the day.”

Cilic, the second seed, did not drop a set all week in claiming his 17th tour-level title and second on clay .