With Marin Cilic and Borna Coric the Croatian tennis fans celebrated two winners of ATP World Tour 500 tournaments last weekend.
Drawing parallels between the football World Cup in Russia and the ATP circus carries the risk of comparing apples with oranges. One thing can be said for sure: Croatia is doing quite well at the moment. Victories against Nigeria and Argentina on the one hand, the triumphs of Borna Coric in Halle/Westphalia and Marin Cilic in London’s Queen´s Club on the other.
And that against prominent customers: Coric prevented the tenth title of Roger Federer at the Gerry Weber Open, Cilic in London the great comeback of Novak Djokovic. The fact that the Croatian team will also play against the USA in Zagreb in mid-September for the Davis Cup final underlines the trend on the ATP tour.
Especially Marin Cilic should have the tennis fans on the bill for Wimbledon. Against Djokovic, the 29-year-old did not let himself get out of rhythm by small lows, took away the loss of the first set as well as a slip in which Cilic briefly tested the stability of his knee.
The success against Djokovic was remarkable from several points of view: until Sunday’s meeting in London, Cilic had only won one of 15 games against the Serb. A psychological hurdle that the US Open Champion of 2014 was able to overcome. Also when Djokovic suddenly found a match point at 5-4 in the second round. Cilic countered with a strong serve.
The fact that he also made up a 4-1 draw in the tie-break of act two speaks for Marin Cilic’s nerves. Last year’s Wimbledon finalist can also be expected on Church Road in a few days’ time.
Whether this also applies to Borna Coric is still open. The biggest success in the career of the 21-year-old, a triumph that had been announced with strong performances at the beginning of the year, but above all also in Halle. Even if first-round opponent Alexander Zverev could not act at the height of his creative power: 6:1 and 6:4 you have to beat the third in the world rankings.
For both Cilic and Coric, however, the same applies as for the Croatian national football team: success in the preliminary round is important and good for self-confidence. The meat pots won’t be ready for use for a few days. At best, the still young nation has two sporting festivals to celebrate on 15 July: one in Moscow in the evening – and one in Wimbledon in the afternoon.