Top seed Cilic moves to Vienna semi-finals

AFP Global Edition | 2009-10-30 18:00:59

<div><p>Marin Cilic continued to build on his momentum from a final this month in Asia, wih the Croatian top seed easing into the semi-finals of the Austria Tennis Trophy 6-1, 6-4 over former champion Feliciano Lopez Friday.</p><p>Cilic played the Beijing final in early October against Novak Djokovic and is hoping to carry some of that momentum into his campaign for a possible place in the season-ending World Tour Finals next month in London.</p><p>He stands provisional 12th in the chase for the last two remaining spots in the tournament starting November 22.</p><p>But the Croatian who won the Chennai title to start the season is not alone in his quest.</p><p>Also still alive in the race are second seed Radek Stepanek, 14th in the London sprint, and provisional number 16 Frenchman Gael Monfils.</p><p>Cilic will face off Saturday against Philipp Kohlschreiber, who has won three of their four previous meetings. The German fourth seed put out Spanish number five Nicolas Almagro 7-5, 6-4.</p><p>"Playing him will be tough," said Cilic. "I will have to lift my game and play better than I did today. It's a strong field here. Even if I'm the top seed, there are plenty of guys like Stepanek, Monfils and (Austrian) Jurgen Melzer who have good chances."</p><p>Cilic rolled his 28-year-old Spanish opponent, the 2005 winner, in a 39-minute opening set then secured a break for 4-3 in the second which paved the way to victory, his 43rd of the season against 18 losses.</p><p>"I have no pressure," the winner said of both his tournament and year-end chances.</p><p>Kohlschreiber, a semi-finalist on his debut in 2008, improved his tournament record to 6-1, sealing his win over Almagro with an eighth ace.</p><p>"I feel confident on this surface," said the winner indoors. "It doesn?t matter if it?s fast or slow. I?ll play on it no matter what the speed.</p><p>"I played a solid match. It's great to be back in the semi-finals but I hope to go farther than last year."</p><p>Stepanek was playing against home hero Melzer while Monfils was tackling Serb Janko Tipsarevic, last week?s losing finalist in Moscow.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=62311282&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>


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