Murray got into some snippish exchanges with the chair umpire over his use of the microphone, but in the end it was Cilic who made the biggest noise, rifling a backhand victor to end the match.
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Unseeded Dimitrov will tackle Johnson in the quarters while Croatian teenager Coric tests his skills against countryman Marin Cilic, a 6-3 4-6 6-4 victor over Czech Tomas Berdych in the late-night match at the Lindner Family Tennis Center.
Murray will meet Marin Cilic in the final on Sunday night.
“I certainly didn’t expect to get to the final when I got here but overall it was a very, very positive week”.
Having flown to the USA from Rio on the same private jet as Rafael Nadal – who complained of injury and tiredness after his early exit in Cincinnati – Murray was playing in a final while hundreds of his fellow Olympic gold medallists were still in Rio ready to party at the closing ceremony.
“I’m really happy with my game today”.
“After coming from Rio and after the marathon that I had in Rio, it’s very important victory for me”.
“It’s been a great run the last few months, but unfortunately couldn’t get it done today”, Murray said at the trophy presentation.
“I’m in another final now. I’m looking forward to a few days’ rest”.
Murray will be playing in his seventh straight final after winning his 22nd consecutive match. He owns four titles in 2016 and has defeated Raonic five times since January.
The Scot fired down 10 aces in a 6-4 6-4 victory over Bernard Tomic to book a last-four clash with Raonic, who he beat to the Wimbledon title in July.
If he wins the title for a third time, he could trail Djokovic by a scant 815 points.
Pliskova has upset Spanish World No.3 Garbine Muguruza 6-1, 6-3 in the semi-finals on Saturday. “I think she might be a little bit exhausted or she felt a little bit of pressure on herself”, Pliskova said.
“If it happens, it will be incredible. I’ve managed to get through the matches pretty well”.
It was a surprising result, and not just because Murray was the No. 1 seed and the second-ranked player in the world.
In doubles, Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo won the men’s doubles title in a very hard-fought match over the team of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau.
It was the German’s the second defeat in a final in just over a week after losing to Monica Puig in the gold medal Rio match.
“Today I felt that the serve was a big factor in the game”, he said.
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“I was serving really well with one racquet, so I stayed with it the entire match, and was switching on my return games to see if I could improve there”. “I didn’t feel too exhausted yesterday in the evening”.
