Second-seeded Marin Cilic feels high first-serve percentage will be the key to his progress in the Aircel Chennai Open.

By Bhagya L Ayyavoo

One player who’s yet to impress is defending champion Marin Cilic. The 21-year-old Croat might have showed a lot of character during his second-round clash against Spaniard Marcel Granollers, but his best win is yet to be showcased on center court. As the Aircel Chennai Open enters the fifth day, the final four will be chosen tonight. The world No.14 who is under pressure to make the cut is very fortunate to still remain in contention after the Granollers scare, “I was lucky that after a break down in the second set, I came back and from that point. I raised my level of game and started to return much better and make him play more shots. It wasn’t easy,” said Cilic said after battling past the Spaniard.

Cilic, who is visiting Chennai for the fourth season, came close to his best game in the opening game against Igor Kunitsyn where his first-serve percentage was 69. He won 85 per cent of his first-serve points. However, it abruptly dropped to 51 per cent in the second match where he was almost booted out. Cilic is keen to get that level up, “In the first match I had higher first-serve percentage I should keep it at that level and keep it more constant.”

Third-seeded Stanislas Wawrinka has no such worries. The Swiss No.2 has been a different player this year in comparison to his debut season in 2009 where he fell in the opener, “I am feeling better during the match. I am feeling very well with my game. I am very happy with my game from the baseline,” explained Stan.

Wawrinka is the direct beneficiary of the shock upset of top seed Robin Soderling. In his half of the draw, the only other top player left is world No.43 and fifth-seed Dudi Sela. But the Beijing Olympics doubles gold medallist feels it’s not going to be easy for the top seeds any more, “I don’t think there are any easy matches in the tournament. All the players are playing very good. My next match is with Michael Berrer.” When asked whether he has played him before he said, “Never.”

Then we have the most stylish player in the field - Janko Tipsarevic. The fourth seed has been given the responsibility to break many hearts. And he has stuck to his task so far. The No.2 Serb’s first victim was crowd-favourite Carlos Moya followed by local boy Somdev Devvarman. However, his game and style have already won him a fan base in the tennis-crazy city. But Tipsy feels consistency will be crucial factor if he is to make the last four, “Consistency has been the biggest problem of my tennis career. When I play good, I keep winning and troubling players at the top. I made the first ATP final last year in Moscow and had some good results. If I show consistency in results, then I can be a threat. To become a champion, you need to beat big players on big stages on big occasions.”

In the other quarter-final matches, fifth-seeded Dudi Sela of Israel will play Lukas Lacko of Slovakia. Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna will fight Colin Fleming and Kevin Skupski of Great Britain for a semis spot in the last match on center court.