TENNIS WIMBLEDON 2014 – 30th of June. M. Cilic d. J. Chardy 7-6, 6-4, 6-4. An interview with Marin Cilic
Q. Obviously you had a pretty good match on your serve; 33 aces in three sets. It is the most satisfying thing of the match for you?
MARIN CILIC: I would say so. I mean, I would say first part of the match before the rain break was extremely high-quality tennis from both of us, especially from Jeremy, who was serving very, very good.
I didn’t have any opportunities on his serve. That was a really, I mean, causing a lot of trouble on the return games. When I came into that tiebreak was not easy to prepare. I didn’t know what to expect. Especially with his big shots he was not giving my too much rhythm.
I think when we came back he was not serving as big as in the first part. That allowed me to get more in his service games.
Overall, I would say I was serving really well and putting more pressure on him with that. He didn’t have too much freedom to make any mistakes on his serve. I think that made a huge difference in the end.
Q. Last year you had to pull out; you’re the first one through now to the quarterfinals. Quite a turnaround. How do you feel compared to last year mentally and physically?
MARIN CILIC: Last year I felt that I was in a pretty good form as well. This year I just felt that I’m one step further with my form. I don’t know if that comes with playing several years on grass, but year after year I was feeling better and better.
But, you know, sometimes it’s difficult to prepare your form exactly for these two weeks. Over here I think we had really good preparation week before Wimbledon, and it’s paying off in the matches, obviously.
Q. Chardy said that the most difficult thing with your serve is to read it because you vary it a lot. Would you say that is the biggest improvement with Goran?
MARIN CILIC: Yes. Overall, the serve became bigger weapon, and I can rely on it during the matches. Over here I feel I’m keeping it on a good level. Even percentage is high and I’m hitting a lot of aces.
I even felt in some points that Jeremy was guessing where the serve was going to go and he was, I mean, obviously making some mistakes.
That gave my a little bit more confident that the serve is in a good position and I have to just keep going.
Q. You served your suspension shortly after Wimbledon last year. Have you learned your lesson from how that came about, and what was that time like for you?
MARIN CILIC: For me, most important part was that I found some mental toughness out of all of that. When I came back, it sort of gave me more motivation to work and use every opportunity I have to be prepared for every tournament.
Obviously I use that time as well for physical preparation. I was doing a lot. I had some time off. I didn’t practice, let’s say two, three weeks maximum, four months.
Overall, I use it very, very good in a physical part and I am feeling very well. I think my game is on a high level. Plus, it’s becoming much more consistent performances day after day.
Q. Goran was such a big character. He played here and when he won here, and when he did, he was talking about the different sides of his personality that he would bring out at different times. Does any of that rub off on you, his sort of larger-than-life approach?
MARIN CILIC: I mean, main part that is coming from Goran to me and what I feel in this relationship is big confidence from my own side towards Goran.
All the things we are working on, they’re working for me on the court. That’s huge confidence for me when I come step on the court, that I’m seeing on own my season that things are working well, and I feel like that. It’s improving a lot.
Having him obviously over here beside me is definitely another plus, big plus to have him in my box. He’s been many times in the second week of Wimbledon, so of course I’m leaving up to him all the small details to give me some advices. It’s working very well.
