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  • Cilic to take on local favorite in final

    1/11/09 11:51 AM | David Cox
    Cilic to take on local favorite in final India has a finalist in the Chennai Open for the first time in the tournament's history with rank outsider Somdev Devvarman upsetting all the odds to get to the showpiece match.

    The first half of 2008 was full of surprise champions and finalists - Kei Nishikori in Delray Beach, Marcel Granollers in Houston, and Kevin Anderson to name just a few. It looks like the trend is continuing into 2009.

    Devvarman has had an incredible run, losing just one set en route. He played an incredible match to oust two-time champion Carlos Moya in round two, a brilliant tactical performance to slowly wear down Moya in the intense lunchtime heat. Then came the dismantling of Ivo Karlovic, who was put to the sword on multiple occasions by fizzing passing shots off both sides. The Croat's serve helped keep the match close enough for 7-6, 6-4, but by set two he'd visibly run out of ideas. Devvarman was very fortunate with Rainer Schuettler's withdrawal yesterday, the German plays a similar type of game and may well have had too much experience, but Devvarman has played well enough this week to make his own luck.

    So who is this Devvarman? Well, he's a relatively late starter to pro tennis having done the collegiate route in the States. He made quite a name for himself there by winning the NCAA singles title the past two years. In 2008 he made rapid leaps through the rankings, winning three futures titles in the first six months, then the Lexington Challenger in the summer as a qualifier before making the quarters at ATP Washington.

    Marin Cilic will probably prove a step too far, though. The Croat is a genuine top 10 prospect in the next few years, if not sooner and will be a dangerous dark horse in Melbourne, someone the top seeds definitely don't want to get in round three. Cilic's progress this week has been very, very smooth apart from the scare he got from Janko Tipsarevic in the last 8.

    Prediction: Cilic in 2

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