Cilic books place in maiden Wimbledon final

Croatian Marin Cilic overpowered American Sam Querrey 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6 (3), 7-5 on Friday to book a place in the final at Wimbledon tennis championships.

Cilic, seeded No.7, needed two hours and 56 minutes, and two match points to seal his fifth win over Querrey, who has never managed to defeat him, reports Efe.

Both big server players held their serve through the first set, but Querrey, who fired 13 aces, almost half of Cilic's 25, won the tiebreak.

Former US Open champion Cilic never threw in the towel as he broke the serve of Querrey, who ousted Briton Andy Murray in the previous round, in the seventh game of the second set and held his own to clinch the set.

After both players lost their serve once each in the third set, they reached a tiebreak, where Cilic had the upper hand.

However, Querrey missed his 4-2 lead in the fourth set, as Cilic managed to come back and break his rival's serve in the 12th game, to reach the final for first time at the All England Club.

The 28-year-old Cilic is now set to play against the winner of the match between Swiss Roger Federer and Czech Tomas Berdych.

--IANS

pur/dg