Marin Cilic overcomes Mikhail Youzhny in the quarter-final – BMW Open 2012
Marin Cilic, who is seeded third in the draw, had to bring out his best game to beat sixth seed, Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, in three sets 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 in the quarter-final at the BMW Open in Munich, Germany on Friday.
The Croatian, Cilic, needed two hours and 45 minutes to undo Youzhny in a tough battle.
Cilic hit the initial blow in the fourth game of the first set and held his next serve to gain a 4-1 advantage. The Croatian did not get broken till the end, sealing it 6-3.
The Monte Carlo, Monaco resident smashed three aces and pocketed 13 of the 17 first serve points. He did a really good job on the second returns, as he sealed five of the eight points on them in the opener.
Cilic and Youzhny held their serve throughout the second set, levelling the score at 6-6 and taking it to a tie-breaker. They did not give each other any chance in the first 10 points and evened it out at 5-5 but then the Russian
claimed two consecutive points to win 7-6(6).
The 6ft tall, Youzhny, did not hit any ace or double fault in the second set. Nevertheless, he kept his first serve percentage at 73 and converted 21 of the 27 of them into points. The Russian also performed brilliantly on the
second deliveries, as he won eight of the 10 points on them.
Youzhny drew the first blood in the decider, breaking the Croatian in the first game to go up 1-0 but Cilic struck back immediately to level the score at 1-1. Ranked 24th in the world, Cilic grabbed another breakthrough in the
sixth game and made the most of it to triumph 6-3.
The Croatian was outstanding on the serve, as he bombarded five aces and 72 percent of the first deliveries, winning impressively 17 of the 21 points on them in the final set.
Cilic said, talking to the media after the match, "We always have tough matches. I would say the level of tennis was high. In the second set, Misha was playing unbelievable. He saved a match point with an amazing backhand down
the line. What I was happy about today was that I kept my level going. Even though I lost my serve at the beginning of the third set, I got the momentum back and I think that was really crucial."
The Croatian is slated to take on home favourite, Tommy Haas, in the semi-final.
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