Cilic advances to Vienna semifinals

VIENNA, Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Top-seeded Marin Cilic of Croatia will be one of the final four players at this week's Bank Austria Tennis Trophy in Vienna.

Friday, Cilic was a 6-1, 6-4 winner over 2004 Vienna champion Feliciano Lopez of Spain, winning 69 percent of his service points and hitting eight aces.

"I think the crucial thing for me was that I started well," Cilic said. "I think I played some great points today and I'm really pleased about that."

In Saturday's semifinals, Cilic faces fourth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, a 7-5, 6-4 winner over fifth-seeded Nicolas Almagro of Spain.

Also Friday, seventh-seeded Jurgen Melzer of Austria was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over second-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic, and Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic downed third-seeded Gael Monfils, the 2008 Vienna runner-up, 6-4, 6-7 (8-10), 6-3.