2011 Open 13: Marin Cilic upsets Tomas Berdych to secure spot in semis
Marin Cilic of Coatia made it into his first semi-final of the season when he moved on ahead at the 2011 Open 13 in Marseille on Friday after upsetting second seeded Czech, Tomas Berdych, in straight sets.
Meeting the Czech for the third time, Cilic not only stood at a disadvantage of facing a top ten player but he also lagged 0-2 in the pair’s career head to head match-ups. Countering these odds, Cilic not only enjoyed a victory over the Czech but he did
it with ease.
Dictating the game from the start, the hard hitting Croat registered an impressive 81 per cent winning percentage on service as opposed to Berdych’s meagre 51 per cent. Breaking service twice early in the game, the Croat led the score 4-0. Although Berdych
managed to fight back and win three games, it was Cilic who eventually won the set 6-3.
The second set followed somewhat similar pattern even though the Czech put up some resistance. Hitting almost twice the number of aces than Cilic, Berdych tried his level best to take back the game. However, the Croat was quick to wrap up his straight sets
victory. Suffering a loss of only 7 of 28 points on service, Cilic clinched a 6-4.
It took the Croat almost eighty two minutes to finally win one over the Czech. His notable 78 per cent winning percentage on service was enough to cater for Berdych’s resounding total of eight aces. Cilic successfully converted three of six break opportunities
throughout the game to make his way into the final four.
Talking about his performance after the match, Cilic said, “I felt really good on the court, especially in the first set, where I had a lot of chances on his serve and was making him earn every point. From the other end I was serving extremely well, I had
my best serving day so far in the tournament. I knew to beat him it was really crucial to stay there [mentally] right until the end of the match and put him under a lot of pressure.”
This is Cilic’s first semi-final since his semi-final run at the 2010 Legg Mason Classic in Washington last August.
Another first for the day was top Russian Mikhail Youzhny’s win for a spot in the semi-finals. A three-time quarterfinalist here, Youzhny made his way into his first semi-final at Marseille after he successfully dismissed 2009 champion, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Fighting against the crowd support that Tsonga enjoyed, Youzhny survived a mid match lapse to seal his victory in three sets. Breaking service once in the opener, Youzhny secured a 6-4 win for himself going one up in the set score.
Falling to Tsonga’s seven aces, Youzhny had his service broken twice. Trailing in the score, Youzhny eventually lost the set 2-6, allowing the Frenchman to level the set score and take the match into the decider.
Regrouping in the decider, Youzhny survived Tsonga’s onslaught this time. Losing only seven points on service and recording a winning percentage of 74 per cent on service, Youzhny was able to clinch a 6-4 win and move on ahead into the semis.
Youzhny will now play Cilic in the semi-final round on Saturday.
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