Cilic and Wawrinka reach Chennai Open final

Chennai, India - Second seed Marin Cilic of Croatia overpowered Serbian Janko Tipsarevic 6-1 6-3 in the semifinals on Saturday to stay on course for a second successive Chennai Open crown.

World number 14 Cilic dismantled his fourth seeded opponent and will meet Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka in the final.

Third seed Wawrinka, the Beijing Olympics doubles gold medallist along with Roger Federer, overcame Israeli fifth seed Dudi Sela 6-4 2-6 7-5 in the other semi-final.

Big-serving Cilic was broken in the opening game but Tipsarevic quickly slipped into a series of unforced errors.

"Today I played my best match of the tournament," Cilic told reporters. "Barring the first game of the first set I was in control for most of the match.

"In the second set, when it was at a crucial stage, I was good."

The Croat also defeated Tipsarevic in the quarter-finals last year.

World number 21 Wawrinka came through a tough contest with Sela, who counter punched hard from the baseline.

An inspired Sela won the second set and went up 2-1 in the decider with a break. But Wawrinka broke back immediately and then secured the decisive break when leading 6-5.

Wawrinka goes into the final having won all four of his previous meetings with Cilic.

"We played last in the French Open (first round) in 2008," said Cilic.

"Definitely he is a tough player to play, tough to beat. I am also playing well." - Reuters