Raonic and Cilic to slug out Istanbul final

Big servers Milos Raonic and Marin Cilic set up a heavyweight final at the Istanbul Open when they came through their semi-finals with ease on Saturday.

Canadian top seed Raonic beat Serbian Viktor Troicki 6-2 6-3 while 2014 US Open champion Cilic, seeded two, beat Argentina’s defending champion Diego Schwartzman 6-1 7-6(7) to reach his first final of the year.

“I’m definitely very excited for the final tomorrow,” Cilic, who will seek a first claycourt title since winning in Umag in 2012, said. “It’s something I was looking forward to at the beginning of the week. I’m really happy with my tennis and hope I can continue with great tennis tomorrow.”

Raonic is playing his first tournament since withdrawing from the Miami Open in March with a hamstring injury.

As the build-up to the French Open continues, Germany’s rising force Alexander Zverev reached the final of the BMW Open in Munich with a 7-5 7-5 defeat of Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut. He will face Argentine qualifier Guido Pella in the final after he beat young South Korean Hyeon Chung 4-6 7-5 6-4.