NEW HAVEN (Connecticut), Aug 23: American Mardy Fish upset top seed Fernando Verdasco 6-0, 1-6, 6-3 to reach the final of the ATP event here on Friday.

Runner-up here last year, Fish clinched victory after one hour and 28 minutes to set up a final against Croatian sixth seed Marin Cilic, who defeated Luka Gregorc of Slovenia in the late match.

Fish said it had been difficult to focus after a comfortable first set against an out-of-sorts Verdasco.

“It didn’t really look like Fernando wanted to be out there, I don’t think that’s any secret,” the eighth seed told reporters after reaching his second final of the year.

“It’s almost like playing someone who’s injured. They’re kind of going for broke and they don’t have much to lose, they kind of have an excuse. That was tough.”

Verdasco had cruised through to the semi-finals but was sloppy early on, winning only 11 points in the opening set.

Against the odds, the Spaniard stormed back to level, only to drop serve in the opening game of the decider before Fish broke again in the ninth to wrap up the match.

“The match was so strange today,” Verdasco said. “At the beginning he played really good and I played horrible.

“In the second, I played better and he started to miss much more, and in the third set... he served really good and I didn’t have too many chances to break him.”

Verdasco said defeat would not dent his confidence going into Monday’s US Open, where he is seeded 13th.

“I need to forget about today, about all the mistakes I made, and try to see everything positively for the Open,” he said.

“Just remember how I played all this week. I think I will play well there.”

Cilic ended the giant-killing run of Gregorc, a qualifier who began the week ranked 434th, with a 6-3, 6-3 victory.

Gregorc had beaten second seed Ivo Karlovic and seventh seed Andreas Seppi on his way to a first ATP Tour semi-final, but found Cilic too strong on the night.

Cilic broke once to win the opening set.

Two breaks put him 5-2 up in the second but Gregorc broke back to love, only to then drop his serve again to give Cilic a place in his first ATP Tour final.

Meanwhile, women’s top seed Anna Chakvetadze ended Amelie Mauresmo’s hopes of a first title victory in 18 months with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 win over the Frenchwoman in the semi-finals.

Mauresmo had beaten seeds Patty Schnyder and Agnes Szavay on her way to the last four but the former world No 1 eventually ran out of steam against Russia’s Chakvetadze, who will play Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki in the final.

“I guess I ran a little bit out of gas out there after last week and the few matches I played this week,” Mauresmo told reporters.

“But it’s a good tournament. I’m pretty satisfied about the way I played throughout the week.”

Chakvetadze hit nine double-faults and completely lost her way in the second set before recovering to win the third.

“I lost a bit of concentration in the beginning of the second set, then I felt I started to play better but it was too late. Already she was up like 5-1, I won two more games,” she said.

Wozniacki proved she is fast becoming a force in the women’s game by beating seventh seed Alize Cornet of France 7-5, 6-4.

The unseeded Wozniacki, who won her first title in Stockholm earlier this month, defeated her fellow 18-year-old in one hour, 29 minutes.

Wozniacki broke to lead 5-3 in the first set. Her opponent broke back but the Dane then snatched a second break in the 12th game.

Cornet, with her left thigh strapped for the second successive day, broke twice to lead 3-0 in the second before Wozniacki came storming back to seal victory.

Friday’s results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Men’s singles:

Semi-final results: 6-Marin Cilic (Croatia) bt Luka Gregorc (Slovenia) 6-3, 6-3; 8-Mardy Fish (US) bt 1-Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 6-0, 1-6, 6-3.

Women’s singles:

Semi-finals: 1-Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) bt Amelie Mauresmo (France) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) bt 7-Alize Cornet (France) 7-5, 6-4.—Reuters