Marin Cilic has credited his run to his first Wimbledon semifinal to the belief others have in his own ability.
The Croat has broken his three-year streak of losing in the quarter-finals at SW19 by outlasting Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller in a five-set test. Producing an impressive tally of 33 aces and 74 winners, Cilic sealed the three-and-a-half hour encounter 3-6, 7-6(6), 7-5, 5-7, 6-1, to win his 11th match on the grass this season.
“I think today was extremely important to be very mentally fresh and to believe obviously in my abilities,even though at the beginning of the match I didn’t start so well.” Said Cilic.
A former US Open champion from 2014, pundits has been tipping Cilic to go deep in this year’s tournament. One of those include Roger Federer. The 36-year-old booked his last four place with a straight sets win over Milos Raonic. Federer will play Tomas Berdych in the semifinals.
“I predicted Marin Cilic could go very far this week.” Federer said during his interview with the BBC on Wednesday.
The high praise for Cilic started at the Aegon Championships last month. He cruised to the final before losing to Feliciano Lopez in a three-set epic. During his first three matches in the tournament, the Croat averaged 92.5% with his first serves in rate. Just one example of his credentials on the grass.
Cilic’s run at The Queen’s Club was undoubtedly a boost, but he believes his breakthrough was aided by hearing others such as Federer praise him.
“It’s great for me to hear that even he (Federer), and a lot of players around, even ex-players, when they were looking before the tournament started, that they were seeing me as a player that could go quite deep.” The 28-year-old admitted. “That had given me a little bit more belief, a little bit more confidence that, you know, players and people around are also seeing that I’m in a great form, that I’m able to do great things.”
Querrey next
Cilic’s route towards the final was aided by the removal of Rafael Nadal by Muller earlier in the week. Now top seed Andy Murray has crashed out to Sam Querrey, Cilic’s route into the final has eased further. In Wimbledon history only one Croatian player has ever reached the final in the men’s draw. Cilic’s former mentor Goran Ivanisevic in 2001.
“It’s not going to make a big difference. I’m still approaching every single match very similar. Players at this stage of the tournament are playing great tennis. You can’t take that for granted.”
Reflecting on his run to his maiden grand slam title, Cilic credits Ivanisevic for improving his ‘service motion.’ This time round, he is praising Jonas Bjorkman. The former world No.4 began working with the Croat in November with his main focus concerning Cilic’s consistency on the tour.
“I believe we just found a good formula for myself to play constantly on a good level. I believe that’s something that I was missing during my career.” He said about his recent surge in form.
Since the Monte Carlo Masters, Cilic has reached the quarter-finals in seven out of eight tournaments. Heading into his clash with Querrey, he has a 28-13 win-loss record this season.
