India wild card makes Chennai tennis semis

CHENNAI, India, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Third-seeded Marin Cilic and Indian wild card Somdey Devvarman advanced Friday to the semifinals of the $450,000 Chennai Open.

Devvarman had strong support from his countrymen in the stands as he bested fourth-seed Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 7-6, (7-4), 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the hard-court tournament in Chennai that is considered a tuneup for the Australian Open.

Devvarman will face No. 5 Ranier Schuettler in Saturday's semifinals. Schuettler, who made it to the semis at Wimbledon last year, beat fellow German Bjorn Phau 6-2, 7-5 on Friday.

Cilic held off seventh-seeded Janko Tipsarevic 6-4, (0-6), 6-4 and will play Spain's eighth-seeded Marcel Granollers on Saturday. Granollers defeated Czech wild card Lukas Dluhoy 7-5, (2-6), 64 Friday.