I Played my Best Tennis Against Federer: Cilic

In a recent interview, Croatian tennis player Marin Cilic said that Roger Federer brought out the best in him. He cast his mind back to the 2014 US Open title, the scene of his sole Grand Slam title so far. Cilic himself admitted that he had a hard time believing it when it happened:

He said, ‘After the match finished, I looked up at the screen, US Open champion Marin Cilic, it was incredible.

The turning point was winning the fourth round against (Gilles) Simon. I had never beaten him, I had an amazingly difficult match in five sets and after I played the best tennis of my life, in quarters, semifinals and final.’

It was in that tournament where he defeated Roger Federer in a straight set semifinal. After that match, Japanese player Kei Nishikori defeated Novak Djokovic as well. This came as a shock as everybody backed the Swiss ace as the favourite to win the title.

Almost two years later, at Wimbledon 2016, Cilic wasted three match points against Federer. When he Spoke about that match, Cilic added: ‘There are many different matches that change the route of your improvement and that was one of the matches unfortunately that I lost and that helped me to play better.

In those cases, you have to use positive things. I had a lot of chances, few match points but it didn’t happen. I believe that I improved as a player because of that.’

The Number 3 seed will be up against Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka in the first round of Wimbledon. He is also on Federer’s side of the draw, so chances of a repeat of the 2017 final is unlikely.

Now, the draws for Wimbledon 2018 have been released today. Many are of the opinion that Federer has an easy draw compared to his rivals. So, will Roger Federer win yet another Wimbledon title?