TENNIS ATP FINALS – Stan Wawrinka wins the last Round Robin match of the tournament against Marin Cilic 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 setting up an all Swiss semifinal against Federer on Saturday evening. Diego Sampaolo.
The evening match at the O2 Arena featured two Grand Slam champions who broke the dominance of Fab Four in the Majors. Wawrinka needed to win three games to secure his spot for his second consecutive ATP World Tour Finals semifinal and fulfilled his task in style in the fourth game of the opening set when he converted the second of his three break points for 3-1 in his 10th head-to-head match against this year’s US Open champion Marin Cilic.
Wawrinka wrapped up the first set with 6-3 and looked to be cruising to a comfortable straight-set win but Cilic bounced back winning the second set with 6-4. The second set went on serve at 4-5 on Wawrinka’s serve. The Croatian player, who won just six games in the first two matches, earned three set points at 5-4 and broke serve to love to clinch the second set.
Cilic reeled off four consecutive points to take a 2-0 40-15 lead in the decider. Wawrinka bounced back by breaking back before getting another break for 4-3. Wawrinka did not relinquish his lead and reeled off four consecutive games to secure his 8th win in the 10 head-to-head matches in one hour and 46 minutes. Wawrinka hit 11 winners and dropped just six of his service points.
Wawrinka has finished runner-up in the round-robin Group B with a 2-1 record
“I am really happy with the win. If you check the level, It’s been up and down. I beat the guy who won the US Open without playing my best game but I am fighting all the time to find the best solution. It’s been a tough week for everybody. The score was bad for a lot of players. It is not easy to play some great tennis. It’s something big for me to win the match in three sets making the semifinal again. it’s the second year in a row. I am really proud with that”.
Wawrinka trails 2-14 in his previous 16 head-to-head matches against Federer but he beat the Swiss Maestro in the Monte-Carlo Final. “Tomorrow I can believe that I can believe Federer but I have been seeing in the last few months. He is playing amazing tennis especially indoors. It’s going to be a tough match for me. I will have to play my best game. I will have to play my best if I want to have a chance against him. The beginning of the match will be very important for me.”, said Wawrinka
Cilic finally played a good match despite his third defeat in this tournament. “I was eager to play better. That’s what I was focused on, to finish the season with a good match. So it happened like that. I am happy with my performance today. I was close in the match when it was really important at the beginning of the third set. I felt Stan dropped his level at the end of the second set and at the end of the third set. But unfortunately I didn’t play well after these few games. I missed just easy balls. That was unfortunate but overall I was satisfied with my tennis”, said Cilic.
