Marin Cilic dumps Ivan Ljubicic to book a place in the title match – China Open 2011
In anall-Croatian affair at the China Open, world number 25, Marin Cilic, outplayed his fellow compatriot, Ivan Ljubicic, in the semi-final round on Saturday afternoon.
The contest was staged on the outdoor hard courts of the Olympic Green Tennis Center, in Beijing, China, with Croatia’s number one, Cilic, registering a comprehensive victory in straight sets 6-4, 6-3. 32-year-old Ljubicic hung
in the contest for one hour and thirty eight minutes of play before he eventually succumbed to the agile Croat, letting him through the final of the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) World Tour 500 event.
The contest appeared pretty one sided, with Ljubicic struggling all the way to finish on the losing side in the end. The Croatian veteran utterly failed to register a single break point in the entire matchup, squandering away seven
precious break opportunities to let Cilic fly away with victory.
It was Cilic’s 38th victory of the current ATP season and the first one against his doubles team partner in singles encounters. Ljubicic defeated him in their last meeting at the Wimbledon Championships earlier this
year but Cilic finally avenged his loss on Saturday afternoon to improve his record 1-2 against the Croatian veteran.
23-year-old Croat banged 13 cracking aces and reeled off 28 out of 34 first serve points in the matchup to drive the in-form Ljubicic out of the tournament with ease. Cilic converted three of his nine break opportunities in the
contest to come out as the winner in the end.
The first serve break of the day came in the ninth game of the match and Cilic took momentum from it to serve out of the opening set at 6-4. The 23-year-old carried on with his winning impetus in the following set as well and nailed
two more break points to wrap up victory at 6-3, moving into the final of the China Open.
Cilic will either take on the world number seven, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, or the 10th ranked Czech competitor, Tomas Berdych, in the final of the China Open. Tsonga and Berdych will go one-on-one against each other
later on Saturday evening.
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