Wawrinka to face teenager Coric in Chennai final

World number four Wawrinka took just one hour and five minutes to oust third seed Benoit Paire of France 6-3 6-4 at the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium.

Only promising youngster Borna Coric stands in the way of Aljaz Bedene reaching his second successive ATP Chennai Open final after coming from a set down to beat hometown favourite Ramkumar Ramanathan 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the last eight this afternoon (Friday).

The Swiss will face Benoit Paire – with whom he claimed the doubles title at this event in 2013 – in the semi-finals after the Frenchman eliminated Thomas Fabbiano.

Two-time Grand Slam victor Wawrinka is seeking his fourth Chennai Open title, following victories in 2011, 2014 and 2015.

“It’s never easy to play against [Paire], but we always enjoy playing against each other, and it’s nice to share this moment with a friend”. It turned out to be a marathon match what with Koric stretching hisrival to two tie break sets, the first he won and te second Bedene whofought back gallantly. “I need to play well against him because he has a good all-round game”.

The last of the surviving hosts Somdev Devvarman and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan bowed out in the semi-finals of the Chennai Open.

The 19-year-old Croatian is the youngest ATP World Tour finalist since Kei Nishikori in 2008 and the first teenager to progress to a final since Marin Cilic in the same year.