Janko Tipsarevic goes for back to back titles against Marin Cilic in the final of the St Petersburg Open on Sunday.
Tipsarevic crushed an erratic Alex Bogomolov 6-2, 6-1 in Saturday's semi-finals, breaking the American five times. However after the match the Serb insisted that it was not as comfortable as it looked.
"Even though by the scoreline the match looked pretty easy ... on the court it really didn't feel easy," Tipsarevic said. "I feel I was playing better from the baseline, but the main difference today was that I was serving much better then him. I was winning one or two free points off my serve in every game, and he had to fight for every single point because he had no winners from the first shot."
He's hoping to become the first player to pull off the Moscow-St Petersburg double but he faces a tough ask against the 6'6 Cilic who dismissed local favourite and former champion Mikhail Youzhny 6-3, 6-4 in the last four.
"I think Janko is playing the tennis of his life these last three months, but I believe I have a good chance this week and I'm going to be really motivated for the final," the Croatian said.
Cilic leads 5-1 on the head-to-head but crucially Tipsarevic did win the last one, 6-3, 7-6(4) in Miami earlier this year which will give him a lot of confidence.
Prediction: Tipsarevic in three.
