Cilic Turns Page On His ‘Worst Performance’ In Two Years
06 August 2018 12:28
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Marin Cilic arrived at Wimbledon with plenty of momentum. The third seed, the Croat was fresh off an impressive victory at the Fever-Tree Championships. Already reaching the Australian Open final, where he lost in a courageous five-set battle, it appeared he was primed for another deep run.
But it was not to be, as Cilic lost a two-set lead against Argentine Guido Pella, faltering in the second round for the first time at SW19 since 2013.
“It’s the sport. You have to always be ready every single day for anything that comes at you. Obviously I was feeling that I was in great form. I played well, I won Queen’s, playing great matches,” Cilic said. “My expectations were big. And I felt that I was playing really good. On the day that I lost, it was just one of the days that I was not playing well. I feel that maybe in the past two years, that was one of the days that was maybe the worst in my own performance.”
Cilic was clear that he wanted no credit taken away from Pella, but that he understood those types of performances are bound to happen. At last year’s US Open, he was ousted in the third round. But that didn’t stop him from refocusing to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals.
“It’s still another thing that you have to deal with, especially at those big events,” Cilic said. “You also have to control your emotions, get to know yourself more and be ready for those kinds of things. Nothing comes for granted, and you have to earn it every single day.”
It’s that day-in, day-out mentality that has made the 29-year-old one of the most reliable players on the ATP World Tour in recent years. He has not been outside of the Top 15 in the ATP Rankings since he won his lone Grand Slam championship at the 2014 US Open.
“I feel that with my consistency with my game, I’ve kept myself improving the past couple of years, always finding some more things that I could improve, that I could look into a bit more,” Cilic said. “I feel that new chances are going to come up and that I’m getting closer to winning some more Grand Slams.”
But Cilic’s focus is completely on the task at hand. For him, that is this week’s Rogers Cup in Toronto. With the quick conditions on the Canadian hard courts, the sixth seed believes he needs to look to control points, starting with his second-round match against compatriot Borna Coric or Vasek Pospisil.
“The guys who are going to be serving well and being able to control the ball from the rallies are going to be able to play well. We might see some good movers around the court also doing well, as it’s not so comfortable to hit through the guys,” Cilic said. “I feel I’ve been serving quite good in the practices. Hopefully I can keep it up in the matches as well. It’s quick conditions, so you have to be aggressive.”
Cilic has not fared particularly well at the Rogers Cup, reaching the quarter-finals just once, on debut in 2008. But he knows the importance of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 events, and is excited to get started.
“They are big tournaments. I’m also peaking my form to play well at these. You have to take every single week as seriously as you can,” Cilic said. “These weeks are extremely important also for my game and the confidence. I’m definitely going to peak my form for these tournaments here and try to play the best I can.”.readfullarticle
