By Chris Oddo | Saturday May 21, 2016

 

Stan Wawrinka claimed his third title of 2016--and his first on home soil--in Geneva on Saturday.

Photo Source: EPA

Before he heads to the fabled terre battue of Roland Garros, Stan Wawrinka earned a long awaited maiden title on home soil. Wawrinka defeated Marin Cilic, 6-4, 7-6(11) to claim the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open on Saturday. It was Wawrinka’s third title of 2016 and his 14th overall.

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Wawrinka has now won ten consecutive finals dating back to 2014.

The Swiss made an early break in the third game of the first set stand up, but his route was much more complicated in the second set.

Cilic, making his first appearance since March when he suffered an injury to his right knee, broke him in the fourth game before the Swiss mounted a late rally, breaking to get back on serve in the ninth game before and then coming through a wild tiebreaker to claim the title.

Cilic held four set points in that breaker but Wawrinka was resourceful down the stretch. The world No. 4 finally converted his second championship point as the Croatian’s last-ditch backhand sailed long.

Wawrinka improves to 10-2 against Cilic lifetime, and has now won six in a row against him.

The Swiss will next look to defend his Roland Garros title in Paris, where he’ll face Lukas Rosol in the first round.

Cilic will face Italy’s Marco Trungeletti in the first round.