Sixth seed Marin Cilic moved to within one win of capturing his third VTB Kremlin Cup title on Saturday, downing Ricardas Berankis 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final in Moscow.
“It was a tough match, Ricardas played well,” Cilic said in his on-court interview. “The first set was great from my side. I served amazing but then Ricardas began to find his rhythm and played much better in the second set. I managed to play a tough second set. Mentally it was difficult, but I managed to play my best tennis at the right time.”
Cilic has fond memories at the ATP 250 event, having triumphed against Roberto Bautista Agut in the 2014 and 2015 finals, before he advanced to the semi-finals in 2019.
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The Croatian, who has dropped just one set en route to the final, will aim to clinch his 20th tour-level title in Sunday’s championship match against second seed Aslan Karatsev or World No. 31 Karen Khachanov.
“It is amazing to get this support and whatever happens tomorrow, it will be a great day to enjoy another final in my career and another final here in Moscow,” Cilic added. “It will be great to play, both Aslan and Karen are amazing players.”
In a strong serving performance against Berankis, Cilic fired 10 aces and won 83 per cent (33/40) behind his first delivery to advance after one hour and 31 minutes and extend his ATP Head2Head series lead to 2-0.
Earlier this season, the World No. 41 overcame Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime to win the title in Stuttgart. The 33-year-old also advanced to the last four in Singapore and Estoril.
Berankis was competing in his first tour-level semi-final since Pune in February 2020. The 31-year-old was bidding to win his maiden ATP Tour trophy in Moscow.from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/3b38n8O
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