Mikhail Youzhny takes on Marin Cilic in the semi-finals of the Open 13 in Marseille.
Youzhny produced potentially his best performance so far in 2011 to see off former champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in an all-action quarter-final. Tsonga was one of the favourites for the title this week having reached last week's Rotterdam final but despite smashing down 17 aces, Youzhny proved eventually too strong.
The Russian will be relieved to have broken his quarter-final duck in Marseille having fallen in the last eight three times before.
Cilic was ranked in the top ten this time last year before suffering a bit of a form slump for the rest of the season. After tumbling down the rankings after the Aussie Open, the big Croatian is enjoying a bit of a resurgence. He outplayed Jurgen Melzer in Rotterdam and scored a fine 6-3, 6-4 win over Marin Cilic on Friday.
“I felt really good on the court, especially in the first set, where I had a lot of chances on his serve and was making him earn every point,” he said. “From the other end I was serving extremely well, I had my best serving day so far in the tournament. I knew to beat him it was really crucial to stay there [mentally] right until the end of the match and put him under a lot of pressure.”
However he has always struggled against Youzhny in the past. The Russian has won all four of their previous matches, whether it's been indoors, on clay or outdoor hard. He beat Cilic 6-4, 7-6 in Marseille three years ago and expect a similar result again this time round.
