Chennai:
Third seeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland survived some anxious moments before getting past Israel's Dudi Sela 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 to set up a summit clash with defending champion and second seeded Croatian Marin Cilic in the Chennai Open here on Saturday.
In a two-hour-long battle, Wawrinka's abilities stood out even in tight situations in front of packed atmosphere.
In the eleventh game of third set, higher rated and more experienced Wawrinka held his serve but Sela in the next was not tuned to the situation as he made two mistakes of sending out two back hand shots wide to trail 0-30 but managed to wipe one point and yielded one more point when Wawrinka came up with a superb back hand down the line.
Ultimately, Wawrinka's game plan of moving up in front after return of serve paid off as Sela failed to cross the net with a forehand from the edge of the right line of the court signaling the win for Wawrinka.
Earlier, defending champion and second seeded Marin Cilic had little difficulty in disposing of a fighting but erratic Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-1, 6-3 in 84 minutes in the first semi-final clash.
If Cilic wins title tomorrow, he becomes the only second player in the 14-year history of the tournament to follow former world number one and twice title winner here Carlos Moya of Spain, who entered here this year as a wild card entrant but packed his bags in the first round losing to Tipsarevic. Moya had won the title in 2004 and 2005.
In the second semi-final, title favourite Wawrinka, ranked 21, was stretched fully, but survived as Sela wilted under pressure, done in by his over enthusiasm with urgency in finishing for vital points particularly in the decider third set.
The way Sela went about in taking the match to the decider, which went into extra points, one was sure of the favourite Wawrinka win as Sela failed to measure up to the task.
Wawrinka started the match with a break in the ninth to go in to the lead as he found his forehands on target but then seemed to be losing grip in the second having been broken in the third and seventh games.
To his credit, 24-year old 43rd ranked Sela, considered as a dark horse in this tournament when the main draw was drawn, soon started to show accuracy in his ground strokes not overawed by the stature of the former world No 1, but came up with deserving winners while improving upon his serves in the baseline duel.
In a two-hour-long battle, Wawrinka's abilities stood out even in tight situations in front of packed atmosphere.
In the eleventh game of third set, higher rated and more experienced Wawrinka held his serve but Sela in the next was not tuned to the situation as he made two mistakes of sending out two back hand shots wide to trail 0-30 but managed to wipe one point and yielded one more point when Wawrinka came up with a superb back hand down the line.
Ultimately, Wawrinka's game plan of moving up in front after return of serve paid off as Sela failed to cross the net with a forehand from the edge of the right line of the court signaling the win for Wawrinka.
Earlier, defending champion and second seeded Marin Cilic had little difficulty in disposing of a fighting but erratic Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-1, 6-3 in 84 minutes in the first semi-final clash.
If Cilic wins title tomorrow, he becomes the only second player in the 14-year history of the tournament to follow former world number one and twice title winner here Carlos Moya of Spain, who entered here this year as a wild card entrant but packed his bags in the first round losing to Tipsarevic. Moya had won the title in 2004 and 2005.
In the second semi-final, title favourite Wawrinka, ranked 21, was stretched fully, but survived as Sela wilted under pressure, done in by his over enthusiasm with urgency in finishing for vital points particularly in the decider third set.
The way Sela went about in taking the match to the decider, which went into extra points, one was sure of the favourite Wawrinka win as Sela failed to measure up to the task.
Wawrinka started the match with a break in the ninth to go in to the lead as he found his forehands on target but then seemed to be losing grip in the second having been broken in the third and seventh games.
To his credit, 24-year old 43rd ranked Sela, considered as a dark horse in this tournament when the main draw was drawn, soon started to show accuracy in his ground strokes not overawed by the stature of the former world No 1, but came up with deserving winners while improving upon his serves in the baseline duel.
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