Tennis Update: Marin Cilic and Tomas Berdych to open 2011 season at Chennai
The ATP event at Chennai is one of the triad kicking off the 2011 ATP season next week. Played on hard court, Aircel Chennai Open is an ATP 250 event played at the SDAT Tennis Stadium in Chennai and is one of the preparatory events
for the prestigious Australian Open.
Returning to the event for the third straight year, world number fourteen Marin Cilic kicks off his 2011 season at the Chennai event. Cilic first played at the event in 2008, enjoying a semi final run in both singles and doubles
category. He was, however, denied a chance at the title by Mikhail Youzhny. Cilic then returned to the event in 2009 to have another shot at the title. Seeded third in the event, Cilic did away with local Somdev Devvarman in straight sets to win his second
career title.
Ranked fourteen in the world and seeded second in the event, Cilic started his 2010 season with an appearance at the Chennai event. With only a single set loss, Cilic moved past Igor Kunitsyn, Marcel Granollers and Santiago Giraldo
to enjoy a spot in the semi finals. Determined to defend his title, Cilic met and defeated Janko Tipsarevic in the semis to meet Stanislas Wawrinka in the finals. With both sets going into tiebreakers, Cilic defended his title against Wawrinka in a 7-6(2),
7-6(3) win.
Cilic then went on for a semi final run at the Australian Open, falling to eventual finalist Andy Murray. This was his only commendable performance at the Grand Slams for the season. Cilic lost to Robin Soderling at the Roland
Garros in the fourth round. He was ousted in the first round of Wimbledon by Florian Mayer. His United States Open title run was cut short in the second round by rising Japanese star, Kei Nishikori. His only other title win for the year came immediately after
the Australian Open when he defended his title at the Zagreb event. Defeating Michael Berrer in a three setter, Cilic successfully defended his title and bagged his career high ranking of being ninth in the world.
Matching Cilic at the event is the number one Czech, Tomas Berdych. A rising star of 2010, Berdych is going to be the highest ranked player at the event, enjoying the ranking of being sixth in the world.
Although the Czech has no titles to his name in 2010, he was still able to finish the season amongst the top ten. Along with a final appearance at Wimbledon and the Miami Masters, Berdych was also one of the elite eight at the
Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Berdych makes his debut at the Chennai event, hoping for an early title in 2011.
Cilic and Berdych will be joined at the event by 2010 runner up Wawrinka, Tipsarevic and Frenchmen Richard Gasquet and Jeremy Chardy.
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