Cilic, Melzer reach semifinal at Zagreb

ZAGREB, Croatia – Defending champion Marin Cilic reached the semifinals of his third successive tournament this year when he edged compatriot Ivo Karlovic, 7-6 (6), 6-4, at the Zagreb Indoors on Friday.

Cilic improved his 2010 record to 13-1, with an eye on his second title of 2010 and the fifth of his career in his adopted hometown.

On Saturday, top-seeded Cilic will face third-seeded Austrian Juergen Melzer, who took more than two hours to defeat Illya Marchenko of Ukraine, 3-6, 6-0, 7-5.

The two met three months ago, when Melzer defeated Cilic in the Vienna final for his second career ATP title.

Also, Michael Berrer of Germany ousted fourth-seeded Viktor Troicki of Serbia, 6-4, 6-3 and will play compatriot Philipp Petzschner, who defeated Lukas Lacko of Slovakia, 6-7 (1), 6-2, 6-2.

Cilic broke into the top 10 world rankings this week for the first time at No. 10, following victory in Chennai, India, and a semifinal run at the Australian Open.

In his first match against seventh-seeded Karlovic, Cilic withstood 24 aces and earned the only break in the match at the start of the second set.

Cilic conceded no break points and lost just seven points on his serve in each set of their quarterfinal.   (AP)