Marin Cilic remains on course to retain the Queen’s Club title after the defending champion defeated Czech second seed Tomas Berdych 7-5 7-6 (7-4) in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Cilic won the pre-Wimbledon warm-up event in bizarre circumstances last year when his final opponent David Nalbandian was disqualified for kicking an advertising board into the shins of a line-judge in frustration at losing a point.
The Croatian fifth seed is now just two wins away from becoming the first player to retain the trophy since Andy Roddick in 2005 after a dominant display against world number six Berdych.
Cilic will face former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro or Australian veteran Lleyton Hewitt in Saturday’s semi-finals.
The 24-year-old had lost four of his previous five meetings with Berdych and had never managed a grass court victory against a player ranked in the top 10.
But Cilic has a good record at Queen’s and he edged a tight first set when he landed the only break of serve at 6-5.
Berdych’s booming serve and huge groundstrokes can make him a formidable opponent on grass, as he proved in 2010 run when he reached the Wimbledon final.
The 27-year-old, back at Queen’s for the first time since 2005, had not dropped a set in his opening two matches.
But Cilic, who brought an end to his nine-year partnership with Australian coach Bob Brett just before the recent French Open, has been in obdurate mood this week and never gave Berdych a chance to come back.
The second set went to a tie-break and it was world number 12 Cilic who held his nerve to seal one of his best wins in 2013.