Stan Wawrinka remains on track for the three-peat in Chennai after beating Benoit Paire in straight sets in the semifinals of the Aircel Chennai Open. Wawrinka faces Borna Coric in the final. It will be the Croatian teen's first ATP World Tour final.

Wawrinka Takes Opener Despite Some Shortcomings

Stan Wawrinka showed better than his good friend again on Saturday in easing past Benoit Paire 6-3, 6-4 to advance to his fifth final in Chennai. It will be the two-time Grand Slam Champion's third straight trip to the final. The first set opened with three straight service holds to give Wawrinka a 2-1 lead. In the fourth game, Paire ran into trouble on serve as Wawrinka saw two break chances. The Frenchman held firm on both and evened the score at 2-2. The Swiss would hold to 3-2 and then make Paire pay on his third break point of the set. Paire would net a volley attempt to hand the defending champ a 4-2 lead. Wawrinka made no mistakes in closing out the set 6-3. The Swiss won the set despite landing just 50 percent of his first serves. Wawrinka did manage to win 10 of 15 points on his second serve, just one less than he won off his first. Paire struggled with his second serve, losing seven of 11 points in the set.

Second Set Sees Paire Fade Away

The second set would get away from Paire in the third game. After trading service holds, Wawrinka secured a break on the first chance he saw to go up 2-1. The top seed would consolidate to a 3-1 advantage. The Frenchman would get one look at a break point in the sixth game, but Wawrinka held with a massive serve to stay up a break. Paire tried to use some different tactics against his friend by aggressively rushing the net. It did not work consistently enough. Paire also began to struggle some with his movement late in the match as his first serve began to falter, only getting in 50 percent of the time in the set. The Swiss would close out the match with Paire clipping the net on a return to hand the top seed the second set 6-4.

As usual, Wawrinka was sure to compliment his friend after the match, telling reporters, “It’s never easy against him. He was serving well, I needed to play my best against him."

Second Semifinal Sees Coric Take Nervy Opening Set

The other semifinal pitted 19-year-old Borna Coric against one of last year's Chennai finalists in Aljaz Bedene. Coric opened with a stout serve, which allowed a pair of easy service holds. Meanwhile, Bedene scuffled with his consistency early as Coric saw five break points through Bedene's first two service games. The 8th seeded Croat would convert on that fifth break chance for a 3-1 advantage. After cruising through his first two service games, Coric would stumble in this third as Bedene broke back right away to get back on serve at 3-2. The two players would trade service holds to head to a first set tiebreak. The 8th seed would take two of the first four points off Bedene's serve in the breaker as he crafted a 5-2 lead. Bedene would fend off two set points on serve before Coric closed the set 7-5 in the tiebreak. Coric delivered 11 aces in the opener and won 82 percent of his first serve points to propel him into the lead.

Bedene Bounces Back

The second set saw the unseeded Bedene ramp up his service game. His first serve was in a groove as he won 21 of 24 points and blasted ten aces in the set. He would go up 3-1 in the set as Coric struggled on serve. By the 7th game, the set was back on serve though as Bedene unexpectedly lost control on his serve. Coric saw three break points and converted on the third to make it 4-3 in favor of Bedene. The two would then swap holds the rest of the set to get to a second set tiebreak. In almost a mirror image of the first set, it was Bedene this time who took two of the first four points off Coric's serve for the 5-2 edge. Bedene nearly blew the set as he let a 6-2 advantage slip to 6-5, before clinching the breaker to even the match.

Both Players Weary in Final Set

With the match headed past the two hour mark, both players showed some strain in the final set. The opening service game from the Croatian featured five deuces and a break point, but Coric would hold to open. Bedene quickly answered with a hold to 1-1. The 8th seeded Coric would again let Bedene see a break chance in the next game with the 2015 finalist able to convert this time for a 2-1 edge. Once again, there was a quick break back and things were right back on serve at 2-2. It would stay even to an epic 7th game that saw seven deuces and five break points on Coric's serve.

The teen would show amazing fortitude to finally secure the hold at 4-3. Bedene seemed to lose his composure on serve in the next game as he was broken at-love to give Coric the lead. The 8th seed would close the match out to book his first ATP final with the 7-6 (5), 6-7 (5), 6-3 win. Bedene will lament his missed opportunities in the final set where he converted just one of seven break chances, while Coric scored the decisive two breaks on just four chances off Bedene's racquet. Coric took to Twitter following the match to celebrate.

Sunday's Final

Wawrinka will be playing in his 21st ATP final. Coric will be playing in his first. The Swiss has won both previous career meetings which came last season. That included a 6-1, 6-4 demolition of the Croatian in Chennai in the second round. Coric did take a set from Wawrinka in the rematch in the summer at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. The Swiss ultimately won 3-6, 7-6, 6-3.