By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, August 30, 2016
"The conditions here are really good for my game. The ball is bouncing quite high, it's quite fast, the humidity in some ways doesn't bother me," says 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic.
Photo credit: Fila
NEW YORK—It's tough to get lost in the landscape when you're a six-foot-six former champion so explosive you've blown Roger Federer off the Flushing Meadows court.
Marin Cilic has managed to keep a low profile amid major expectations at the US Open.
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The 2014 champion launches this US Open as one of five former champions in the field along with reigning champion Novak Djokovic, two-time champion Rafael Nadal, 2012 title winner Andy Murray and 2009 champion Juan Martin del Potro.
Lifting the title trophy elevates Cilic's confidence for another major run in New York.
"For me personally it does (feel different)," Cilic said. "I'm playing well. I'm feeling great on the court. Also, conditions here, I know they suit my game. They suit my tennis and I know that I can play great as well in the Grand Slam tournaments."
In fact, Cilic delivered a dose of damaging deja vu to Roger Federer for two-and-a-half sets at Wimbledon last month.
"He blew me off the court at the US Open," Federer said at Wimbledon. "It was unbelievably impressive how he finished that tournament, quarters, semis, finals. I don't think he lost a set. It was unbelievably impressive."
Federer gained a measure of revenge fighting off three match match points rallying from a two-set deficit to edge Cilic, 6-7 (4), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9), 6-3, and advance to his 11th Wimbledon semifinal last month.
Cilic shrugged off that loss with vigor. He snapped Murray's 22-match winning streak in the Cincinnati final capturing his first career Masters crown. Cilic swept Rogerio Dutra Silva in his US Open opener to stretch his winning streak to seven matches. That win set up a second-round meeting with Sergiy Stakhovsky with reigning champion Djokovic, who is 14-0 lifetime vs. Cilic, looming as a potential quarterfinal opponent.
"The last one I played in Wimbledon was also really good run and just coming here playing great in Cincinnati (I feel in) really good form," Cilic said. "Obviously, it's important for me to continue with that kind of tennis, not to lose that, but it's a different sort of feeling than two years ago."
Cilic may be a more assertive player these days than the 16th-ranked contender who stormed through the field two years ago, dismissing Tomas Berdych, Federer and Kei Nishikori in succession.
Some players hug the baseline; Cilic suffocates it.
The rangy Croat has such a wide wing span, squeezing shots past him looked as daunting as trying to bear-hug the Unisphere. Cilic arrived in New York with a new look and new coach.
The 27-year-old Croatian re-signed with former clothing sponsor Fila before the Flushing Meadows major began. He also split with childhood hero Goran Ivanisevic—whom Cilic credits with relocating his toss and streamlining his service motion, elevating his serve from a kicking to crunching—and has hired former Grand Slam doubles champion Jonas Bjorkman as new coach aiming to sharpen his transition game.
"Bjorkman is definitely one of the best guys there is on tour," Cilic told Tennis Now. "He knows the net play. He knows how to use the game and obviously he was the kind of player that was pretty all-around.
"He played great in doubles, he played great in singles as well. He knows how tennis is going. He has character, I really like him. He's a hard worker and very, very nice personality off the court so that suits me as well."
Bjorkman is reknowned for his spot-on player impressions. He's working with Cilic on unleashing his inner aggression and refining his transtion game to make more effective use of that booming serve and blazing strokes.
"We've been already working on my volleys on the game connecting the baseline and the net, which I felt there is quite a lot of space for me to improve in that area," Cilic said. "The change with Goran came sudden. It was nothing expected. And I also played quite well before we split. My thoughts behind looking for a coach as Jonas was also I knew that in this area he can help me a lot. Obviously, I worked a lot with Goran on my serve, improved that. This is an area I can still improve a lot and build my game."
Given the fast Flushing Meadows courts and the high bounce that sits up in his expansize strike zone, Cilic could be building toward another second-week run.