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.<\/p>\n
Just take a look at his combined score-line<\/a> 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<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n While I\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n After a miserable start<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n The very next stop was the ATP 250 of Istanbul. Yes, the one where the attendance<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> first round losses to journeymen such as Thierry Ascione (2007), Rub\u00e9n Ram\u00edrez Hidalgo (2011), and Marco Trungelliti (2016).<\/p>\n Thus far in this tournament, I have observed several improvements in Cilic\u2019s game. First and foremost, he\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Furthermore, Swedish coach Jonas Bj\u00f6rkman has flipped his pupil\u2019s tactical switch. Cilic is no longer abusing ill-advised fastballs from long distance. Instead, he\u2019s gone back to the basic traffic light theory, hitting big targets when he\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>. 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<\/a>. For what it\u2019s worth, Murray was also the event\u2019s first seed AND<\/strong> had defeated Juan Martin Del Potro. I\u2019m just saying\u2026<\/p>\n 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\u2019s game style is somewhat akin to Robin S\u00f6derling\u2019s.<\/p>\n The Swede had fallen to Nadal 6-1 6-0 at the 2009 Rome Masters merely two weeks before dethroning<\/a> 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\u2019t he pull it off? It\u2019s not like he\u2019s never caught fire and strung together three otherworldly matches to win a Slam\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n Bj\u00f6rkman anticipated in a Tennismash<\/a> interview that Cilic would be a threat at the French Open and most folks remained skeptical. I\u2019ve already joined the bandwagon. Do you want to take a seat next to me?<\/p>\n Enjoy what you read? Make sure to take a look at our complete 2017 French Open coverage<\/a> for other great content similar to this.<\/em><\/p>\n Main Photo:<\/p>\nThe Croat straightened out his season on European dirt<\/h2>\n
Bj\u00f6rkman, key in substantial progress<\/h2>\n
Rocky road ahead<\/h2>\n