• AEGON Championships

Cilic sets up Nalbandian final at Queen's

Marin Cilic booked his place in the final at Queen's © PA Photos

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• Profile: Marin Cilic | David Nalbandian | Sam Querrey

Marin Cilic refused to follow the trend at the AEGON Championships as the sixth seed booked his place in the final with victory over former champion Sam Querrey.

Cilic, the top ranked player left in the draw following surprise early defeats for the likes of Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, recovered from dropping the second set to claim a 6-3 3-6 6-3 victory.

In windy conditions at Queen's Club, Cilic struggled with his serve and was forced to fend off nine break points in a 20-minute third game as Querrey failed to take his chances. Cilic edged ahead thanks to a break in the eighth game before clinching the opener with a love service game.

After an early exchange of serves, Querrey clawed his way back into the match, grabbing the break before wrapping up the second set with an ace. However, his serve let him down early in the decider, a double fault handing Cilic a quick break.

Although Querrey, the 2010 champion, did manage to get back on level terms, Cilic's power proved decisive as he moved ahead once again before keeping his composure to see out the match in a shade under two hours.

Cilic faces former Wimbledon runner-up David Nalbandian in Sunday's final after he beat Grigor Dimitrov, who was playing in his first ATP Tour semi-final. Nalbandian produced some wonderful forehand winners against his youthful opponent to win 6-4 6-4.

Meanwhile at the AEGON International at Eastbourne, Oliver Golding lost out in the battle of the Brits against Josh Goodall in the second round of qualifying. Playing for the second time in one day, Goodall capitalised on six double faults to win 6-2 7-6(4).

Golding had produced a superb fightback in the first qualifying round for victory over German Daniel Brands. The Brit looked well beaten when he dropped the opening set 6-0, but recovered to claim an impressive 0-6 6-4 7-5 win over a player ranked 380 places above him in the world rankings.

Goodall enjoyed a 7-6(5) 3-6 6-3 win over fellow Brit Edward Corrie, before later adding Golding to his list of victims. However, Dan Smethurst, Richard Bloomfield, Lewis Burton and Josh Ward-Hibbert failed to progress past the first round.

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