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WIMBLEDON

July 6, 2016

Marin Cilic

London, England

R. FEDERER/M. Cilic
6‑7, 4‑6, 6‑3, 7‑6, 6‑3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. This was a lot like the US Open semis. What made the difference today compared to that match?
MARIN CILIC: Well, obviously I was, in the end, very close to winning it again. I felt, you know, that I was playing really, really good, really good tennis from the beginning. I was serving well, mixing up my game well. With the game plan that I went into the match, I think I was executing it pretty good. I was giving myself lot of chances in the first two sets.
I was a little bit unlucky in the third one. I had one game Love‑40, the next game he broke me. That switched a little bit the momentum.
Fourth set, as well, I had a lot of chances obviously. Few match points. On a few of the occasions, returns on the second serves... That was definitely difficult one.
But I was trying to be mentally inside the game. Even in the fifth set, I was feeling that I played well. Just in that game where I lost my serve, few of the points that I have lost, he made great passes. That was nothing more that I could do in those occasions. Yeah, just definitely huge disappointment for me losing this way.
But all in all, I felt that I was playing great tennis.

Q. Obviously you know Roger very well. He's spoken about that himself. Were you at all surprised during the fifth set the level he managed to maintain?
MARIN CILIC: Well, not really. I knew that he's not going to back off when we go in the fifth set. It's also a mental battle where you don't want to let any of the points go on the other side without giving full effort.
I think that he was serving pretty well in the fifth set. That was definitely a tough part. What to say? In that game where he broke me, I didn't play too bad a game. Just on few occasions, he made couple of great returns, very short, very low, with his slices. I was in difficult situations.
I managed to hit pretty good shots, but he ended up hitting great passes. Nothing I could do there.

Q. How tough is this one for you? For three sets, you maybe had the feeling you were the best player on the court. You had three match points. When you're so close to the win, how tough is that one?
MARIN CILIC: Well, it's definitely tough for me to go first time in the semis, especially in this kind of a match where I'm not playing against a player that is first time in the courts.
It's a huge occasion, and I played great tennis. That was very close to the victory. Obviously with that, it's not easy to deal with it after that.
But, you know, I have to take the positives and the great tennis that I managed to play. It's my first time in the career I think that I'm losing the match when I was two sets to love up. That's nothing that I've let myself down a little bit physically or mentally. In all three sets that we played, I played pretty good tennis.
If we would go back to play again, I would try to be more aggressive on the chances when I had them in the fourth. Maybe there was a slight hesitation in some of them obviously. The situation made it big. In those situations, I was not getting the best out of me.

Q. The stats show you had a little more difficulty getting free points in the fourth and fifth sets. Did you feel he was reading your serve better or you had more difficulty hitting your spots?
MARIN CILIC: Well, in the fourth set, I mean, he didn't broke me. I felt pretty much okay on my serve. I was not hitting today, with my serve, spots as good as some other days.
I think Roger is obviously returning well and getting a lot of balls back. You have to be very alert where to play the points. If you play some short balls, he is quick to, you know, take advantage of that.
It's not easy also to deal with that situations. I felt that I was going little bit more with my serve. All in all, I didn't have too much pressure on my serve. Just in fifth set, obviously I could have mixed it up a bit better on my first serve and second serve obviously.

Q. Obviously you've experienced this before, but how tough is it when you play Roger, he has all the crowd on his side, especially when he's coming back with momentum? Something extra you have to fight against.
MARIN CILIC: I was, you know, aware of it, knew that it's going to be that way from the beginning. Roger is very liked everywhere, and especially here. Had so much success. He plays great tennis. Everybody definitely enjoys to watch him.
But it didn't bother me. Obviously in some situations it can help him, to boost his energy a bit. I guess that lift him up a bit after the fourth set, the awareness that he has the crowd behind himself. When he won the last two sets, I guess that gave him a little bit extra in the game.

Q. If you had to say in a few words, what makes this 35‑year‑old such an enduring champion? Why has he been able to achieve what he's achieved?
MARIN CILIC: Well, I mean, it's pretty much obvious. He plays at a great level most of the time. The physiques [sic] that he's possessing, it's definitely great and allowing him to play an aggressive game. Against the players, especially from the back, can't hurt him that much, he's controlling most of the matches.
Even today, I think he was serving great, so that helped him a bit to get a lot of points, a lot of free points.
But from the back of the court, I felt I was pretty much comfortable playing. In the rallies, I was feeling when we got to the rallies, I could be the one that is controlling the points, which is obviously big plus for me.
Definitely a little bit unfortunate for me today.

Q. Do you wish you did anything differently on those match points? A couple of second serves.
MARIN CILIC: Yeah, I would say obviously in those situations, slight hesitation comes into your body. Legs start not to move, so you have to actually try to focus about the game that you need to play rather than the occasion.
In those couple occasions, especially match point in the tiebreak, and even one before on 5‑4, I believe, had pretty makable returns on second serves. That was pretty much a shame.

Q. Which were the points that you regret more? When you had once three breakpoints, another time two breakpoints. Sometimes you had this backhand you could have hit with a little more strength. Were you a little tense in those moments? Is that what you could regret maybe more than the match points?
MARIN CILIC: In the occasion, like in the third set when I was Love‑40 up, I didn't have actually a point where I could say that I am regretting it, as Roger played well. Just the one at Love‑40, I missed my backhand from the middle of the court, which was not easy without an angle in the top of the tape.
Then in the fourth set, actually on two of the breakpoints that I had 15‑40, I missed on both times second serve returns. That's the ones I regret most.
Looking overall, you know, there was a slight hesitation definitely. Looking all my game during the day that I played, I was winning a lot of points when I was being aggressive. Looking now, I would go a bit bigger on those shots.

Q. Most of us would expect that a player the age that Roger is would show signs of slowing down. Since the two years you played him in the US Open, is he showing any signs of slowing down or is he superhuman?
MARIN CILIC: Well, he's not superhuman (smiling).
I don't think he's slowing down. Naturally he possesses great speed. That's one of the strengths that not too many guys can have. That's something natural that you get born with.
Then obviously with the game, he can adapt his speed with his shots. That's a great part obviously that was giving him so many victories during his career.
I felt today, even from the back of the court, obviously he played great, but he was missing still some shots. Even like the tiebreak, when he had a set point in the fourth set, he missed a quite easy forehand there. I was feeling I'm playing right way. When we get to the rallies, I am the guy that can control a bit better.

Q. Goran was hardly smiling today, even during the sets you were winning. Is he usually skeptical of what you're doing? What did he tell you after the match?
MARIN CILIC: Especially in these kind of matches, nobody is going to laugh and smile. No time for that. Have to be, you know, very careful.
My team is always giving me big support. You can't have one second of relaxed time in the match, in this kind of match, because it can go on the other side. That's the thing.
But after the match, we didn't speak. I hardly spoke a word since then.

Q. How much do you credit Goran for reaching the semis here, the improvements you've made in the last couple years?
MARIN CILIC: Still not in the semis, so hopefully next year (smiling).
But, yeah, definitely he brought a lot to my game. Still looking to improve. Today's match can give me guidance to improvement. It just shows me when I'm playing great game, great tennis, I can compete with the best guys, even be on top of them. That's a positive part.
Now it's time to definitely look ahead. It's still long summer in front of me, so I'm looking forward to it. Hopefully I can bounce back stronger.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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