Cilic all the way

In the end, Marin Cilic’s grit and perseverance made all the difference. The second-seeded Croatian defeated Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/3) to retain the ATP Chennai Open title at the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium, here on Sunday. On a hot and humid evening, the two finalists battled for two hours and 40 minutes at the Centre Court before Cilic clinched the issue. Last year, Cilic defeated India’s Somdev Dev Varman to win the crown for the first time. The victory also helped Cilic to record his first win against the third seed. In the previous four meetings, the Swiss won thrice on clay and once on the hard court. Cilic also became the first player after Carlos Moya to win back-to-back titles in Chennai Open. “Yes, I lost to him (Wawrinka) four times before, but Sunday was different,” said Cilic. “Since the last French Open, I have improved a lot. He too has improved but I played well when I had to. “Both of us had to do a lot of running, it wasn’t easy to do. I am very happy to win it here,” said Cilic, who has taken a week off after this tournament. For the near-capacity crowd that filled the stands long before the match started, there was not much to choose between the two finalists except for the fact that Cilic gave a more determined display than his opponent. At times, Wawrinka was brilliant, but he fumbled at crucial moments. From the connoisseur’s point of view, it wasn’t the most exciting encounter. In the beginning, both the players showed little appetite for adventurism and preferred to play from the baseline. In the second set, however, Cilic came up to the net more often than his rival. In the opening set, Cilic was the first to break Wawrinka in the eighth game when the Swiss had to call in his trainer for a troubled neck. If Cilic was hoping to take any advantage of it, he had to be disappointed as Wawrinka promptly broke back the Croatian. The second set was no different. In the second game, Cilic broke Wawrinka only to lose his own serve in the very next game. Thereafter, the two held on till the tie-breaker.

In both the sets, Cilic was more effective in the tie-breaker. If Wawrinka came up with some spectacular returns, Cilic prevailed because of his better court craft. He also showed the ability to be fiercely aggressive in crucial points. Like in the first set, Cilic raced to a 3-0 in the tie-breaker in the second and never had to look back. He finally wrapped it up when Wawrinka netted a forehand return that came angularly to him.

“I tried to give everything in the game but he (Cilic) was more aggressive in the tie breaker,” admitted Wawrinka later. “In a close match like this, it always plays a crucial role.”In the doubles final, the Spanish pair of Marcel Granollers and Santiago Ventura defeated Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) and Yen-Hsun Lu (Taipei) 7-5, 6-2. Their victory meant that they were richer by $21,650 and 250 ATP points, while Lu and Tipsarevic took home $11,360 and gained 150 points.

Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100111/jsp/sports/story_11968307.jsp