A lot was written about the two superstars Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in the run-up to the ATP finals. The new qualification of the two German-speaking starters, Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev, also brought a lot of movement to the paper forest. One man who was almost forgotten in the pre-reporting is Marin Cilic. The Croat will face Sascha Zverev in the first game of the “Guga Kuerten Group”.
Cilic qualified for the fourth time for the final tournament in the British capital and, like all participants in London, can look back on a successful year. At the beginning of the year, the 30-year-old reached the final of the Australian Open, in which he defeated Roger Federer by a narrow margin in five sets.
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After defending against a match ball in the final against Novak Djokovic, Cilic was also able to celebrate victory at the ATP-500 tournament in Queen’s. Due to his success in the preparation tournament for Wimbledon, he was also considered one of the big favourites for the race classic. There last year’s finalist probably experienced the biggest disappointment of the season: After a 2-0 set lead, he lost to Argentinian Guido Pella in the second round in five sets.
Otherwise, the US Open Champion of the year 2014 offered considerable performances, especially at the major tournaments. At the French Open, he lost to Juan Martin del Potro in the quarter-finals as the better player for most of the match, and in New York he was only in the final eight. Japanese Kei Nishikori took revenge for his defeat in the final four years earlier.
Paired with the final entry at the Australian Open, Cilic laid the foundation stone for the qualification for the ATP finals at the big events. Up to now, however, the Croatian’s life in the O2 Arena has been anything but round. Last year he lost all three group games in three sets – including against Sascha Zverev.
“The experiences of the past years will help me to prepare myself better. I feel good both physically and mentally and am ready for the challenges,” says Cilic, who has a meager overall 1:8 record in the ATP finals.
The 30-year-old naturally wants to improve these – if possible against Zverev: “Small things will make all the difference. Playing against the top guys is always a challenge.” In the past, however, Cilic had an immense hard time against the Germans in particular. Only one victory is matched by five defeats.
Therefore, the seventh in the world ranking list will also go into the encounter as a slight outsider. But that doesn’t seem to impress Cilic very much – after early defeats in Tokyo, Shanghai and Basel, he thinks he is back on the right track. This was underpinned by the 1.98 metre giant at the Masters 1000 event in Paris Bercy. After winning the first round, Cilic was defeated by the Serbian Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals.
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“I played great tennis in Paris. I feel good”, sends the otherwise so inconspicuous and reserved Croatian a quiet declaration of war to his competitors. Against Alexander Zverev this good playing level will also be necessary, because it is already about something more than just a kick-off success. To start the group led by industry leader Novak Djokovic with a defeat would be fatal for both Zverev and Cilic.