It's Somdev vs Cilic in Chennai Open final

Chennai, Jan 10 (PTI) Somdev Devvarman will battle it out
with Croatia's third seed Marin Cilic in the summit clash of
the Chennai Open as he reached his maiden ATP tour event final
after getting a walkover from fifth seed Rainer Schuettler in
the semifinal here Saturday.

The Germany's world number 33 pulled out from the event
due to a wrist injury.

Cilic stormed into the final after defeating eighth seed
Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-4 6-3 in his semifinal match of
the USD 450,000 hard court tournament.

Somdev is first Indian player to reach the final of the
Chennai Open, now into its 14th edition.

India's doubles ace Leander Paes had reached the
semifinals of Chennai Open in 1998.

Somdev is also the only second Indian player in recent
times to make the final of an ATP Tour event.

Prakash Amritraj had reached the final of Hall of Fame
Tennis championship in Newport, United States, in July last
year when he lost to Fabrice Santoro.

Somdev made full use of his wild card, upsetting players
like Croatia's world number 25 Ivo Karlovic and former world
number one Carlos Moya en route to the semifinal.

Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic is the only player to win Chennai
Open as a wild card in 2006.

He was given the top billing at that time but made the
main draw of 32 as a wild card due to last minute withdrawal
of the then world number two Rafael Nadal (Spain).

The new Indian tennis sensation knows that it would be
tough to bring home the title.

"Tomorrow is going to be very tough. I have my work cut
out. Cilic is really playing very good. I am going to save my
energy for tomorrow's final tie and I want you guys to save
your energy to cheer me loudly," he said.
Somdev was delighted to make the final but was
disappointed to miss the chance to play against Schuettler.

"It is obviously disappointing. Specially for the crowd.
I knew it's going to be tough (against Schuettler). He is a
seasoned pro. I had thought of playing an attacking game but I
did not get the chance," he said.

Schuettler was also disappointed on leaving the
tournament mid-way.

"During yesterday's doubles match I started feeling pain
in my left wrist. As I warmed up for the semifinal I wasn't
able to hit a double handed backhanded, I felt a strong pain.
"I would only be able to slice and I'm also afraid that
the injury would get worse. I had the same a few years ago but
it wasn't as bad as now," the German ace said.

"I feel sorry for the crowd and the tournament. It is a
very disappointing moment for me."

Schuetller was also worried about his campaign in the
Australian Open.

"I also have to pull out of Sydney. I will now fly to
Melbourne and see if I can be ready in time for the Australian
Open," he said.

The German player became the second player to pull out
from the event after Russian top seed Nikolay Davydenko, who
had to leave the event due to a heel injury ahead of his
second round match, earlier.