Marin Cilic on brink of second Zagreb title

Marin Cilic moved a step closer to his second successive Zagreb Indoors title when he beat third-seeded Austrian Juergen Melzer 7-6 6-4 in the semi-finals on Saturday.

The top-seeded Croatian, who has not dropped a set this week, next faces the unseeded Michael Berrer who defeated fellow German Philipp Petzschner 7-6 7-5.

"It was a tough match," said world number 10 Cilic. "I struggled with my serve in the first set and conceded a break at 3-3.

"But luckily I managed to break back immediately and then got more relaxed as the match went on."

The 21-year-old Cilic has reached the world's top 10 for the first time after last month winning the Chennai Open and reaching the semi-finals of the Australian Open.

Left-hander Berrer has yet to win a singles title and knows he faces a tough task in the final.

"Cilic is a great player and he will have the crowd on his side but I'll try to put on my best performance tomorrow," Berrer said.

Meanwhile, Gael Monfils and David Ferrer, the top two seeds, were surprisingly beaten in the South African Open semi-finals on Saturday.

Monfils lost to Spain's Feliciano Lopez 3-6 6-1 7-6 while Ferrer bowed out 7-5 6-4 to Stephane Robert of France.

Top-seeded Frenchman Monfils breezed through the first set in 21 minutes but was hampered by a knee injury in the second.

The final set went with serve until third seed Lopez, who sent down 11 aces in the match, raced through the tiebreak 7-1 to send the world number 13 tumbling out.

Robert made use of a devastating backhand to overcome second-seeded Spaniard Ferrer and reach his first ATP Tour final.

The 29-year-old Frenchman, ranked 100th in the world, never looked back after breaking serve in the opening game.

Ferrer saved three match points in the second set before finally succumbing to the eighth seed.

In Santiago, two-time defending champion Fernando Gonzalez was knocked out of his hometown Movistar Open in the semifinals by Thomaz Bellucci 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday.

Gonzalez, the top seed, was seeking his fifth Movistar title in front of his Chilean fans. He'd won 11 straight matches at the Movistar since his last defeat in the 2007 quarterfinals.

"It was a very close match," Bellucci said. "Fernando's game fell off in the third set and mine improved."

Third-seeded Bellucci of Brazil will appear in his third ATP Tour final on Sunday against second-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina.

"Monaco will be tough, but I feel very good," Bellucci said.

Monaco earned another shot at the final that he couldn't play two years ago when he brought a convincing end to the surprising run of Brazilian qualifier Joao Souza 6-1, 6-4 in the early semifinal. Souza reached the last four in his first appearance in an ATP main draw.

Monaco advanced to the Movistar final in 2008, only to withdraw against Gonzalez with an ankle sprain sustained in the doubles final the day before.

The Argentine has made it to his 10th career ATP final, all on clay. Since Monaco's third and last title at Kitzbuhel, Austria in July 2007, he's been runner-up five times, including three last year.

Bellucci's the first Brazilian to reach the final in six years.

He won his first title last August at Gstaad, Switzerland.

- Reuters