By Chris Oddo | Wednesday November 16, 2016
Stan Wawrinka won for the 11th time in 13 career matches with Marin Cilic, 7-6(3), 7-6(3), to place himself in the thick of things in the hunt to reach the semifinals at the ATP Finals London.
More: Murray Stretches Win Streak to 21 with Win over Nishikori
To qualify, Wawrinka will still need to win on Friday when he faces Andy Murray in his final round robin match—the Swiss owns a lifetime 7-9 record against Murray and defeated him in their last ATP Finals battle.
Playing with kinesio tape across his left knee, Wawrinka edged Cilic in two close sets, saving a set point in the opener while serving at 4-5, 30-40, and edging Cilic in a tiebreaker.
"In the first set, I obviously had a set point," said Cilic, according to ATPWorldTour.com. "A second serve, I missed the return there. In the tie-breaks, I felt I lost a couple points that I could have won as well. Just few points that went on his side could also have gone to my side."
Cilic, fell to 0-5 lifetime at the ATP Finals with his loss, and dropped to 47-23 on the season. He is eliminated from semifinal contention with the loss.
He opened up a quick 2-0 lead in set two, but Wawrinka would level and eventually capture the breaker.
Wawrinka can still qualify and make his fourth consecutive trip to the ATP Finals last four, but he will need to defeat Murray, and even if he does he will need Cilic to defeat Kei Nishikori in order to get in. Wawrinka would need to win in straight sets if Nishikori defeats Cilic, to qualify.
"All I know is if I want to have a chance to qualify, I need to win," said Wawrinka. “That's all I'm trying to do. I'm going to try to play my best tennis, to beat the World No. 1. It's going to be a tough match. We played many times against each other. He's playing his best tennis so far. It's going to be interesting. I'm happy to play here in front of his home crowd. I'm sure it's going to be a great atmosphere.”
Wawrinka has reached the semi-finals at the season finale in each of the past three years. He improved to a 46-17 match record on the season with his victory.