Marin Cilic downs Tommy Haas to advance to the title match – BMW Open 2012
Third seed, Marin Cilic of Croatia, ended the impressive run of the wild card entrant, Tommy Haas, in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-final of the BMW Open in Munich, Germany on Saturday. Ranked 24th in the world,
Cilic took just an hour and 15 minutes to beat the world number 134.
Cilic and Haas held their serve in the first six games of the opening set to take the score to 3-3. It was all Cilic show after that, as he captured three successive games to seal it 6-3.
The Croatian fired three aces and 64 percent of the first serves, claiming 13 of the 14 points on them. He was also near flawless on the second deliveries, as he lost just a single point on them, grabbing seven of the eight. The
right-hander did not face any break point and converted one of the three he received in the opener.
In a similar pattern to the first set, both players won their serve in the first eight games, equalising the score at 4-4. Cilic, once more, raised the level of his game in the end, as he grabbed two in a row and closed it 6-4.
The Croatian again gave a brilliant performance on his serves, pounding three aces and 61 percent of the first deliveries in the second set. He had an amazing conversion rate, pocketing 12 of the 14 first and eight of the nine
second serve points. The 24-year-old did also quite well on the replies to his opponent’s deliveries, as he snatched six of the 17 first and six of the 13 second return points.
Giving an interview after the match, Cilic said, "It was my best match of the week. I played and served extremely well. I believe he didn't reach deuce on my serve. I waited for my chances on return. Tommy played really well this
week and I went into the match with thoughts of that. It made good preparation for everything."
He added, "I've always played well here and have enjoyed the atmosphere. This week, there have been some really warm days, which has suited my game. I'm playing well and feeling good, so hopefully I'm going to continue to play
like this."
Cilic is pitted against fourth seed, Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, in the final. The local favourite toppled Spain’s Feliciano Lopez, seeded second at the event, in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 in the semi-final.
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