Cilic looks for a hat-trick of Chennai Open title

All of 6 feet 6 inches, Croat Marin Cilic slumped to the ground arms raised skywards and then making a quick sign of the cross he got up and waved to the crowd after retaining the $400,000 ATP Chennai Open crown at the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium yesterday.

Make no mistake, it was no walk in the park for the No 2 seed as he needed two hours and 40 minutes to defeat theu00a0 stubborn Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 7-6 (2) 7-6 (3).

It was a huge burden off Cilic's broad shoulders as had a poor 0-4 record against the Swiss. "It's a huge relief to finally break the jinx. I played really well today. I thought I served big too,'' said the proud champion.

The World No 14 picked up a cool $68,450 (Rs 30 lakh) while the runner-up received $35,980 (Rs 15 lakh).

Cilic fires groundstrokes from the hips but he also comes up with some tongue-and-cheek quotes. "Yes, it was very tough conditions here. For Chennai this is winter, but back home, it's a freezing 11 degrees. We players found the conditions humid and we had to hit a lot of balls with top-spin as they got very heavy.''

Is there a chance for a three-peat? "Why not, I could well come back here in 2011. I love the people here. It would be fantastic to go past Carlos Moya (champion in 2004, 2005).'' Cilic goes to Melbourne early to train and prepare for the Australian Open which begins on January 18.
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"I will train and get used to the heat there. I think I will do pretty well at the first Grand Slam of the year.''

Janko Tipsarevic was unable to pick up a title in Chennai. He and his partner Yen Hsun Lu (Chinese Taipei) lost to Marcel Granolliersu00a0 and Santiago Ventura (Spain) 5-7 2-6 in the doubles final. Granolliers and Ventura collected $21,650 (Rs 9 lakh).