Croatian battle for final spot in Beijing

Written by: Global Chick on 8th October 2011

Croatian battle for final spot in Beijing |

Croats Marin Cilic and Ivan Ljubicic will meet in the semi-finals of the China Open in Beijing tomorrow. Both players came through in tough three sets matches today.

Unseeded Ivan Ljubicic is continuing his good form in Beijing this week. The former Top 10 player is through to the semi-finals after a win over Russian Mikhail Youzhny 7-6 (4) 6-7 (4) 6-2. The three set battle went on for almost 3 hours. “I felt like if I was feeling the ball a little bit better today,” Ljubicic said.

Marin Cilic battled past big serving Kevin Anderson 7-6 (4) 4-6 6-1 to set up a semi-finals clash with his fellow countryman Ljubicic. The World No. 25 has been in two finals this year in Umag and Marseille but he has failed to lift a trophy this year. For two consecutive years Cilic has won bot the Chennai and Zagreb tournaments. Ljubicic and Cilic last played in the first round at Wimbledon this year. Ljubicic won the match in four sets. Cilic said, “I watched his (Ljubicic) match and he was playing really well and got through that match really well. I think definitely tomorrow is going to be interesting and tough match for both of us. I think he’s again hungry to win and playing well.”

Cilic and Ljubicic are still going in the doubles. They are going out to play doubles with each other later on in the day. They face Robert Lindstedt of Sweden and Horia Tecau of Romania in the quarterfinals.

The winner of the Croatian battle will face the winner of top seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and the No. 3 seed Tomas Berdych in the final. Tsonga had a straight set win over former world number one Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-3 6-4.

The World No. 7 won the Metz tournament a couple of weeks ago it was his only title this year. He was also the finalist at Queen’s and in Rotterdam. Tsonga finished off Ferrero in 71 minutes today. “I’m surprised to have played like this. That was just amazing. Everything was working. I’m just very happy to go through this round because it’s never easy to play against this guy.”

Tsonga will face Tomas Berdych of Czech Republic in tomorrow’s semi-finals. Both Tsonga and Berdych are trying to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals in London. “Tomorrow will be exciting for sure. It’s going to be another match against Berdych. We have a lot to win tomorrow you know. Both of us have to win tomorrow for the World Tour Finals. I think it’s going to be a good match,” the Frenchman said.

Berdych is still to lose a set in Beijing this week. He had a rapid win over Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 6-1 6-0 in just over one hour in the round before.

SCHEDULE – SATURDAY, 8 OCTOBER, 2011

NATIONAL TENNIS STADIUM start 1:00 pm

I Ljubicic (CRO) vs M Cilic (CRO) – ATP

Not Before 7:30 PM

[1] J Tsonga (FRA) vs [3] T Berdych (CZE) – ATP

LOTUS COURT start 4:00 pm

[1] B Bryan (USA) / M Bryan (USA) vs [3] M Llodra (FRA) / N Zimonjic (SRB) – ATP

M Cilic (CRO) / I Ljubicic (CRO) vs R Lindstedt (SWE) / H Tecau (ROU) – ATP