David Nalbandian Crushes Marin Cilic

David Nalbandian seemed to put all of his injury woes behind him last night as he crushed Marin Cilic to reach the final of the Legg Mason Classic in Washington.

When Cilic, who is seeded fourth in the tournament, broke Nalbandian in the opening service game it looked like it was going to be an intriguing match but one that Cilic was going to come through.

But Nalbandian has other ideas as Cilic’s serve proved to be his undoing in the opening set as Nalbandian capitalised on the errors from the Croat.

The Argentine soon got the break back and from the point on it was one way traffic as Cilic notched up twenty seven unforced errors throughout the match.

But Nalbandian, who underwent hip surgery twelve months ago, was playing with more pace and power than his opponent and Cilic simply had not answer in the opening set.

Nalbandian broke Cilic three times from four service games to take the opening set 6-2. Into the second and Cilic didn’t mix his play as he stayed rooted to the baseline, a tactic that was to cost him.

The Croat, despite being favoured going into the match, just couldn’t match Nalbandian from the back of the court and the Argentinean ate up the mid-court balls that Cilic continued to play.

An early break for Nalbandian saw him open up a 4-1 lead over Cilic. But Cilic did have a chance to break back in the seventh game but was unable to capitalise.

Nalbandian broke the Croat once again to complete a crushing 6-2 6-2 victory to just remind everyone why he was number three in the world.

Speaking to the ATP after the match Nalbandian said: "I played great; I've been playing well all week, I returned well today, which gave me more confidence for all my game. I tried to press him a lot.

"When you spend a lot of time outside the court you miss the tennis, miss the adrenaline. I'm trying to enjoy it every time I go out.

“I think I have another three or four years of playing at this level. I'm working hard to be fit."

Nalbandian will now face Marcos Baghdatis in the final tonight.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw