Marin Cilic’s preparations for the defence of his US Open crown suffered a setback as he crashed out of the Rogers Cup in the Second Round.
The Croatian suffered a 6-3 6-4 defeat to outspoken Aussie, Bernard Tomic, in his opening match. Tomic made headway early, breaking in the second game of the match before comfortably taking the first set.
It was a similar story in the second, with Tomic breaking early before consolidating his lead with an excellent serving display, winning 80% of points on his first serve. Cilic failed to earn himself a single break point in the second set and was subsequently dumped out of his first match in a Masters tournament for the third time this year.
Marin Cilic entered the week with fragments of confidence after a relatively successful run to the semifinals of the Citi Open in Washington where he was eventually halted by Kei Nishikori. This was the first time the pair had met since last year’s US Open Final.
The 26-year-old’s maiden Grand Slam trophy at Flushing Meadows last year was one of the biggest shocks in recent tennis history as he became only the third player outside of the “Big Four” – Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, and Andy Murray – to win a Grand Slam since Marat Safin’s 2005 Australian Open triumph.
His 2014 US Open journey was something of a marvel as he overcame top ten players Stan Wawrinka, Novak Djokovic, and Kei Nishikori in the final three rounds, as well as battling through a grueling five-setter with Gilles Simon in the fourth round.
However, his 2015 form has shown little suggestion that he will retain his title. Cilic spent the first portion of the year plagued with injury as a troublesome right shoulder kept him out of the Australian Open. He was understandably sluggish on his return to the Tour, winning just three matches in his first five tournaments before runs to the fourth round of the French Open and the quarterfinals of Wimbledon showed glimpses of progress.
Yet the year has been largely unfruitful. He has failed to make the final of any tournament and has reached just two semifinals. Furthermore, he has failed to topple a top 10 player this year, compared with five such victories in 2014.
His US Open rankings points have kept him afloat in top 10 but unless he runs deep at Flushing Meadows this year he will tumble down the rankings. His current position in the 2015 Race to London rankings places him in #20, making it almost impossible for him to return to the end of year ATP World Tour Finals, the tournament that inflamed his shoulder injury last year.
The Croatian will have one final shot at gaining some valuable hard court practice as he joins another strong field for the Cincinnati Masters before heading back to New York to attempt the unthinkable and become the first man to retain the US Open since Roger Federer’s five year dominance from 2004-2008.
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