Djokovic to face Cilic in Queen’s Club final

After reaching his first ATP Tour final in almost a year, Novak Djokovic still appeared far from content.

The 12-time Grand Slam champion set up a meeting with Marin Cilic by defeating Jeremy Chardy 7-6 (5), 6-4 at Queen’s Club Saturday.

Djokovic’s last final — and title — also came on a British grass court when he defeated Gael Monfils in Eastbourne last July.

“I’m just self-critical, I guess, at times,” Djokovic said. “I maybe don’t show the satisfaction or exhilaration when maybe it’s expected or vice versa, or other emotions.

“It’s just sometimes, you’re pumped and frustrated. Sometimes you just want to keep it to yourself. I’m just glad to keep this going, and I don’t want to celebrate too much. You know, even though I’m really happy I’m in the finals, I just want to keep building this momentum.”

The in-form Chardy had won 12 of his previous 13 matches but the Frenchman was still left without a win — or even a set — against Djokovic after their 11th career meeting.

Chardy’s best chance to end the streak came when the first set went to a tiebreaker, but a couple of loose shots allowed Djokovic to take control into the Birmingham Classic final Saturday with a 6-3, 6-2 win against Mihaela Buzarnescu.

Fourth-seeded Kvitova outplayed one of the most improved players on the tour with strident groundstrokes and uninhibited net attacks.

Buzarnescu, an unseeded Romanian, fought back to 2-3 by breaking the Czech’s serve and briefly seemed capable of the kind of resistance that earned her the first set in their well-contested final in Prague last month.

That, however, was on clay — and on grass right now Kvitova looks better than anyone. If she maintains this high level for another three weeks, everything seems possible for the player whose career looked seriously in doubt 18 months ago after a knife attack at her home in December 2016.

The result earned Kvitova her 36th victory of the year, more than any other player on the tour after overtaking the previous leader, top-ranked Simona Halep.

“I didn’t expect that at the start of the season,” Kvitova said. “I didn’t start well in Australia, but now I can’t imagine a better season so far.