By Anand Philar
Chennai, Jan 9 (IANS) Defending champion Marin Cilic of Croatia maintained his unbeaten run against Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic with a polished 6-1, 6-3 win to enter the final of the $400,000 ATP Aircel Chennai Open tennis tournament here Saturday.

The 21-year old Cilic, ranked 14th and seeded second here, had won all the three previous meetings with Tipsarevic and looked well set to retain the title as he awaits the winner of the second semi-final between Dudi Sela and Stanislas Wawrinka.

The 25-year-old 38th-ranked Tipsarevic, who had lost to Cilic in the quarter-finals here last year, yielded ground to a far superior opponent who served consistently well and had more ammunition in his armoury.

The 84-minute match was marked by long rallies with Cilic looking much better equipped given the variety and range in his shots as he repeatedly caught Tipsarevic off-guard with subtle change of pace and angles.

In the event, Tipsarevic did most of the running while Cilic used his huge reach to advantage besides serving well and mixing up his shots.

Cilic was off to a good start in the first set when he broke Tipsarevic in the third game and again in the sixth to seize the advantage.

The Croat showed greater variety in his shots and committed fewer mistakes in the set while Tipsarevic, struggling to get his service game going, was far too inconsistent to make an impact.

Cilic broke Tipsarevic in the very first game of the second set. However, the Serb showed some spark and looked set to break back when he led 30-0 on Cilic’s serve. But a few unforced errors by Tipsarevic and a net chord return saw the Croat not only catch but also win the game with a great serve wide to the forehand.

Thereafter, games went with serve and the early break meant Cilic remained in front while Tipsarevic never quite looked the part and gradually faded away from the contest, dropping his serve in the ninth game after saving a match point.