2011 PBZ Zagreb Indoors: Marin Cilic vs. Florian Mayer – Semi-final Preview
Croatian Marin Cilic will be taking on Florian Mayer in the semi-final of the PBZ Zagreb Indoors. Stakes are high for the defending champion Marin Cilic as he will be facing the German this Friday to book a place in the final.
Cilic has been winning the Zagreb Open for previous two consecutive years.
The top seed for the tournament, Cilic has been in sublime touch throughout the event and outsmarted Igor Kunitsyn of Russia in the quarter-final by 7-6 (7-3) and 6-2. He finished the match in merely less than a hundred minutes
after a tough fight in the first set. Igor Kunitz went head to head with him in the thriller and it was the brilliance of the Croat that saved him. The Russian capitalized on the slower start of Cilic and hit an early break. The Croat responded equally well
when he broke the opponent when the score was 2-4. He held his verves in the tie breaker round and wrapped up the first set.
“I was nervous but lucky to break back immediately in the first set because he was a break up,” said Cilic in his post match reviews. The top seed carried on his momentum to easily win the second set.
Florian Mayer of Germany got his revenge from Radek Stepanek, beating him in the quarter-final at 7-6(7-3) and 6-3. Mayer had faced a recent defeat at the hands of Stepanek at Brisbane International. After one hour and forty two
minute of sensational tennis, the German turned out to be victorious.
Stepanek got plenty of chances to be on top but he fritter away all of them. He had breaking opportunities at five different occasions and he let them go each time. Finally he crumbled in the tie breaker, awarding the first set
to Mayer.
The German played more aggressive tennis after his struggle in the first set and gave no chance to his Czech opponent to bounce back on him. Mayer faced no break point in the second set and barely lost four points in four service
games. He earned his second break point of the set at the closing of the match, making the score 5-3. He finished the game in style and advanced to the semi-final of Zagreb Indoors, where he will be facing the top seed Marin Cilic.
Cilic is determined to win the title for third consecutive time after his dismissal in the fourth round of the Australian Open. His start of the current season wasn’t that good as he lost in the first round of Chennai Open this
year. His record on his home ground is quite remarkable and it could be the only edge he has over his German opponent Mayer.
The previous encounter between these two resulted in a crushing defeat for Cilic when he was simply outplayed by Mayer. The Croat had to suffer a 6-2, 6-4 and 7-6(7-1) defeat in the very first round of Wimbledon. Mayer has registered
wins in eight ATP matches during the running year and is very positive to hit an upset in the semi-final by beating the defending champion.
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