Čilić beat Hasse, for semifinals against Seppi

Marin Čilić is the first Croatian with a win at 22. Studena Croatia Open in Umag, he beat Robin Hasse from Netherlands in the second round - 4:6, 6:4, 6:3. Even though he is the lat Croatian player at the tournament, he claims he didn't feel any pressure during the match.

- There was no pressure, but it's a strange sensation to have your first match of the tournament on Thursday. He played a match before me and felt the conditions of the court so he had a slight advantage over me. I was struggling in the beginning of the match, some things were not going well. Later on I managed to impose my rhythm and style of play which turned out to be crucial in the end. I'm extremely pleased with my serve return and field movement - said Marin

During the third set he had 4;2 and 0:40 on Haase's serve, but ended up losing the game. Did he worry about the final outcome?

- Matches against Berdych in Shanghai went through my head when I had 4:2 and 40:0, still losing the match in the end. The same thing happened against Wawrinka here in Umag when I had 4:2 and 40:15. Luckily, it all went well this time - admitted Čilić.

- Marin made a lot of mistakes in the first set which helped me out a lot. My serve, on the other hand, was really good. After I lost my serve in the second set the match went in the other direction. In the beginning of the third set I tried to be aggressive, but Čilić had the answer to everything, and returned my serves really well. I think the crucial moment in that final set was when I didn't seize the break-point for 3:3. That would surely throw him off balance - said Haase after the match.

The Croatian player is facing Andreas Seppi today, against whom he has a negative score of 2-4. The last time they played was in Shanghai, the Italian, who played in Umag semifinals the last two years, won the match with a convincing score of 6:2, 6:2.

He beat me on several occasions. He's a tough nut to crack, makes very few mistakes from the base line and he is tough on bost sides of the court. My tactics will be the same as against Haase, I'll try to lead the game and be more aggressive than him - said Marin in the eve of the match that will be played at 17:30 on center court. The rest of the quarterfinal matches will be played on Friday, title defender Ferrero will compete against Berlocq, Chela against Fognini, while Dolgopolov will play against Ramos.