In their first meeting, Marin Cilic made a lasting impression on Rafael Nadal.
The 6-foot-6 Croatian raced out to a 5-0 lead and cruised into the China Open final with a crushing 6-1, 6-3 conquest of Nadal at the Beijing National Tennis Center today.
"Cilic is good, is young and has a very good serve but if you are losing 6-1 6-3 there are a lot of things you are doing wrong. Mentally I probably wasn't there," said Nadal. "He played very fast at the beginning, played very well. It was very difficult for me, he was serving unbelievable, returning very fast and playing winners almost all the time."
Cilic set the tone on serve, slamming six of his eight aces in an opening set that saw him win 16 of the 18 points played on his serve. The 21-year-old Cilic reached his first final since he beat compatriot Mario Ancic to win his hometown title in Zagreb in February. Cilic, who owns a 3-0 career record in finals, also won the Chennai title in January.
Novak Djokovic will face Cilic in the final. Djokovic is 3-0 lifetime against Cilic, including a 6-3, 6-4 win in the Dubai quarterfinals earlier this season.
"I played good tennis today, I was hitting well, I didn't give him too much time to adjust," Cilic said. "I've played Djokovic three times and lost three times but this time I'm playing good. I believe if I can put in a performance like I did today, I'm sure I have a shot."
The second-seeded Serbian advanced to his eighth final of the season with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over French Open finalist Robin Soderling. It was a pivotal victory for Djokovic who will surpass Andy Murray for the World No. 3 ranking when the new ATP World Tour rankings are released on Monday.
Djokovic was down 0-2 in the second set, but rallied to win six of the final seven games in diffusing the hard-hitting Swede's strong serve.
"The result is not really a picture of the whole match," said Djokovic. "He's a big server and a big hitter and was aggressive throughout. I had to be very patient and take my chances when they came. Another great win."
The 2008 Australian Open champion is 2-5 in seven tournament finals this season, raising title trophies in Dubai and his hometown tournament in Belgrade.
A pro-Nadal crowd tried to rouse the top-seeded Spaniard, but Cilic was so commanding he quieted the crowd and negated Nadal's efforts to gain any traction in the match. Cilic cracked a pair of service winners to earn match points at 5-2, but Nadal fought off both of them and broke for 3-5.
It was a minor setback for Cilic, who broke back in the ninth game to complete the upset and raise his hard-court record to 27-8 on the season. Nadal, who dropped to 58-9 on the season, will be the top seed at next week's Shanghai Masters as both World No. 1 Roger Federer and Murray will sit out the tournament.
"The worst thing for me is when I had a little bit of a chance to come back into the match in the second set I didn't play well," Nadal said.
