Marin Cilic faces Russia's Mikhail Youzhny in the last eight of ATP Munich. It's one of the pick of Friday's quarter-finals.
It's a repeat of the 2010 Munich final in which Youzhny beat Cilic 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. Cilic may be seeded three this week (Youzhny is the sixth seed) and thus the favourite on paper but the Russian has won five of their seven matches.
Cilic did win the last one - 6-3, 6-4 in the St Petersburg semis at the end of last year and he has been able to find a better game plan against Youzhny in recent years but the Russian also won their only clay-court encounter last year - 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(6) in the Hamburg quarters.
Cilic made the more impressive start to the tournament, dispatching Germany's Matthias Bachinger 6-3, 6-2 in the second round while Youzhny struggled past clay-court specialist Santiago Giraldo 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4.
"Matthias was serving well and the balls here are quicker than usual, flying a little bit at altitude," Cilic told the press afterwards. "Those few opening games it was pretty tight, but once I got the break I started to play better and I felt the rhythm on my serve, which was working extremely well today."
If Cilic serves well he has a chance but you have to give Youzhny the edge, just because of his past record in Munich. As well as winning the 2010 title he's made the final in 2007 and 2009.
Prediction: Youzhny in three.
