Far from the spotlight that surrounds bigger names in the draw, Marin Cilic has sneakily steamrolled his way through his first four matches at Roland Garros 2017.
Just take a look at his combined score-line so far: 6-3 6-3 6-3, 6-2 6-2 6-2, 6-1 6-3 6-3, 6-3 3-0. Granted, he has not faced the Monstars line-up while playing Ernests Gulbis, Konstantin Kravchuk, Feliciano Lopez, and Kevin Anderson. But neither has Rafael Nadal and everyone wants to hand him La Coupe des Mousquetaires already.
While I’m not arguing he has looked like a world-beater in Paris, it is undeniable the Croatian has been dominant. Cilic is hands down playing the best clay tennis of his career and once a player gains this sort of confidence, he is hardly stoppable.
The Croat straightened out his season on European dirt
After a miserable start of the campaign, in which he only amassed five wins in seven events, the 28-year-old has found his groove on the dirt. Within a month, Cilic went from losing to Jeremy Chardy in Miami to crushing him 6-3 6-0 at the Monte-Carlo Masters. He backed it up with another solid straight sets triumph over Tomas Berdych before snagging a set from eventual finalist Albert Ramos, a consummate clay courter.
The very next stop was the ATP 250 of Istanbul. Yes, the one where the attendance is comprised of a tournament director, coaches, around five local fans, two pigeons, and a seagull. Well, Cilic demolished the opposition without dropping a set, including the pesky defending champion Diego Schwartzman and world No. 6 Milos Raonic.
In the two subsequent tournaments, the Medjugorje native left a neat impression. A 6-7 6-3 6-4 defeat at the hands of in-form Alexander Zverev in Madrid is nothing to be ashamed of. In Rome, he handily dispatched Ryan Harrison and Race to London’s No. 7, David Goffin, before losing a 7-6 2-6 7-6 thriller to John Isner, who has proved on many occasions he is no slouch on clay.
The French Open is a different animal, though. Cilic has mightily struggled in the second Grand Slam of the season throughout his career. Not only had he failed to sniff the quarterfinals until the current edition, but he had suffered underwhelming first round losses to journeymen such as Thierry Ascione (2007), Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo (2011), and Marco Trungelliti (2016).
Björkman, key in substantial progress
Thus far in this tournament, I have observed several improvements in Cilic’s game. First and foremost, he’s gracefully moving around the court. The formerly uncoordinated Croatian is now smoothly sliding from side to side. He has transformed his lanky frame into a strength. On-the-run shots behind the baseline are a lesser liability now.
Furthermore, Swedish coach Jonas Björkman has flipped his pupil’s tactical switch. Cilic is no longer abusing ill-advised fastballs from long distance. Instead, he’s gone back to the basic traffic light theory, hitting big targets when he’s on the move, using a safe approach to lead his opponent out of position during neutral rallies, and unleashing the hammer almost exclusively when inside the court.
Rocky road ahead
The path to a shocking title is about to get trickier. Cilic will be an underdog against 2015 champ Stan Wawrinka, whom he has not been able to steal a set from on clay since Umag 2006. Should he upset the Swiss, either Andy Murray or Kei Nishikori would probably be favored in the semifinal as well. Notwithstanding, Cilic already knows what it is to defeat the Scot in the penultimate round of the French Open, having done so en route to the 2005 Junior title. For what it’s worth, Murray was also the event’s first seed AND had defeated Juan Martin Del Potro. I’m just saying…
Barring a major shock, Nadal would await in the final on Sunday. The match would take place on Phillipe Chatrier, which is faster than Suzanne Lenglen. The weather conditions will play a major role, as the Spaniard loves hot sunny days in Paris so his forehand reaches the moon after the bounce. Not trying to get ahead of myself, but Cilic’s game style is somewhat akin to Robin Söderling’s.
The Swede had fallen to Nadal 6-1 6-0 at the 2009 Rome Masters merely two weeks before dethroning the king of clay in Paris. Cilic is peaking at the right place, at the right time. If he stays locked in for the remainder of the tournament, why can’t he pull it off? It’s not like he’s never caught fire and strung together three otherworldly matches to win a Slam…
Björkman anticipated in a Tennismash interview that Cilic would be a threat at the French Open and most folks remained skeptical. I’ve already joined the bandwagon. Do you want to take a seat next to me?
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