Chennai came alive on Saturday night. Stanislas Wawrinka and Dudi Sela were the players behind the loud cheer.

By Bhagya L Ayyavoo

But, Stan was the man left standing after a cracker of a semi-final match.

Two players in red-hot form, Stanislas Wawrinka and Dudi Sela, gave the crowd their money’s worth on Saturday, the penultimate day of the Aircel Chennai Open. The Swiss No.2 and the top Israeli ace served up what the city hasn’t seen in the last couple of years – truly a blockbuster semifinal in the second match which lasted for over two hours and 30 minutes.

The world No.43 Sela, who got 70 per cent of first serves in, matched the Swiss No.2 with every shot. Classic free-flowing backhand took center stage as both players went neck-to-neck in the first set. Third-seeded Wawrinka, finally managed to break Sela in the ninth game to seal Set 1, 6-4 in 51 minutes. Undeterred, Sela bounced back to grab the second 6-2 in 40 minutes.  

Photogallery: Aircel Chennai Open

It only got better at one set apiece. In the entertaining decider that went on for over an hour, Wawrinka who is ranked above Sela at No.21 edged him out 7-5. Wawrinka was relieved after the close call, “It was a very very tough match. I am happy I won that match. I enjoyed it, Sela was playing very good and at the end I won the match. But, it was a very close match.”

Stan added that he had to work very hard against Sela, “He is a very talented player. He’s doing everything very good. He’s coming to the net. He’s pushing you a lot and making some drop shots. It’s never easy to get a rhythm. You need to be very focused on your game and remain strong in the rally to play well.”

Wawrinka will lock horns with second-seeded Marin Cilic in the title clash on Sunday.

Earlier, in a repeat of last year’s quarter-final match, defending champion Cilic quelled the Serbian challenge to breeze into the second straight final in Chennai. The world No.14 executed a perfect game plan against the fourth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic in the first semi-final on Saturday. There was no flashy brilliance, but second-seeded Cilic did just what was needed of him for his 6-1, 6-3 victory against the world No.38.

After improving the head-to-head to 4-0, Cilic was pleased with his performance. “Today, I played the best match of the tournament after that little break in the first game when he broke me. I think I played good for most of the match. I was happy with my movement on court as well.”

Cilic added when his game plan worked well, he stuck to it. “I think I had my game plan. I tried many different things and when some things started working I kept going with them. That helped me.”