A year ago the target was square on Marin Cilic’s back. The surprise 2014 US Open winner was the talk of tennis. Was he the player to break the code of the Big Four?
But then came an elbow injury, a nagging one that put him out for the Australian Open and allowed him just one tournament in the first three months of 2015. His momentum from New York suddenly gone, the Croatian spent much of the past year working his way back to the form that won him his first – and at this point only – major title.
“I was feeling at the end of the season that I wanted to continue to play,” Cilic said. “I mean, most of the guys were already tired, (but) I didn’t start the season until April 15th, until (the) clay courts.”
Fit and healthy and with none of the exhausted or injuries to worry him that can plague a player, Cilic feels like himself again. The world No.13 is the No.3 seed here this week, and will face up-and-coming Korean Hyeon Chung in the second round following a bye.
He arrived in Australia more than a week ago, putting in a few quiet training days at Melbourne Park ahead of getting to Queensland Tennis Centre. His game is on point, he thinks, and he is ready to show that again.
“I was feeling that I was playing better and better towards the end the season,” he said. “Now I had a lot of time to train, to also work on some things that I wasn’t doing so well in the season.
“I think I’m going to be in a really good position. And looking ahead (to the) next five months up to whatever, French Open, I don’t have anything to defend, so it looks really good for me.”
It is hard to defend against the rocket Cilic serve, which he said he worked on in the off-season with his coach, fellow Croatian and grand slam winner Goran Ivanisevic. Some 646 aces in 2015 were not enough for him. He wants more.
“In 2015 I didn’t serve as well as in 2014,” he said, having knocked 744 aces in 2014. “Even though the serve was still pretty good, I think I had some space there to be more lethal with it. So I think that’s going to be one of the focuses this season for me as well.”
That’s a danger for his opponents, particularly as he continues to further strengthen his back and forecourt game.
With the ultimate goal – a Grand Slam title – already reached, is Cilic driven by the want to shrug off the “one-Slam wonder” title?
“I can look at it that way … but for me motivation is to go (in the) direction (where) I know where my ability (can take me),” he said. “That’s the biggest thing for me, the biggest focus, that I want to be able to play that consistently.
“If I’m going to be a winner of grand slams in the future, I think hopefully with the kind of tennis I played at the US Open I have a pretty good shot. That’s what drives me.”