Former champion Cilic eases past Berankis to reach Kremlin Cup final, plays Karatsev

The 33-year-old is through to the Kremlin Cup final where he will face Aslan Karatsev

Croatia’s Marin Cilic reacts during his semi final match against Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis (Panoramic)

October 23, 2021

Marin Cilic kept rolling back the years in Moscow, beating Ricardas Barenkis 6-3, 6-4 to reach the final of the Kremlin Cup.

The 33-year-old is a two-time champion of the tournament, winning in 2014 and 2015.

“It was a tough match, Ricardas played well,” Cilic said in his on-court interview afterwards. “The first set was great from my side. I served amazing but then Ricardas began to find his rhythm and played much better in the second set. I managed to play a tough second set. Mentally it was difficult, but I managed to play my best tennis at the right time.”

🏆 2014
🏆 2015
❓ 2021@cilic_marin takes out Berankis 6-3, 6-4 for his third #KremlinCup final! pic.twitter.com/1mlYQ450Gd
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 23, 2021

And in their first meeting in six years, the Croatian extended his 1-0 record over Lithuanian Berankis. Last time they played each other, it was a five-set epic at Wimbledon, with Cilic eventually winning 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-5. This time, it was much more straightforward.

The sixth seed will play second seed Aslan Karatsev in the final after the Russian beat his compatriot Karen Khachanov 7-6(7), 6-1 in the day’s other semi-final.