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ROLAND GARROS

May 29, 2017

Marin Cilic

Paris, France

M. CILIC/E. Gulbis

6-3, 6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. How did you feel about that?
MARIN CILIC: I felt that the match was quite good for my side. Really starting well from the beginning and serving well, and I felt that overall I was quite focused to play my own game and being aggressive, serving well. You know, taking care of the short balls when I had to.

And even, you know, from the rallies I felt that I was able to push the ball quite well around the court. And I managed to, you know, squeeze him a little bit more to his forehand. I think he was today a little bit unsure, uncertain with some forehands, and I took advantage of that.

And I felt overall -- you know, playing him, it's quite uncomfortable. You never know, you know, how good he's going to come out playing. And, you know, really satisfied with all the match.

Q. We haven't seen much of him lately, so I was just wondering what did you make of where his game is at?
MARIN CILIC: Yeah, that was quite difficult to prepare. You know, he didn't play much this year. I think last tournament was Estoril, and I didn't know exactly what to expect.

But still, you know, Ernests is that kind of a player that even without a match practice, he can still come out and, you know, serving big and then hitting big. So you have to, obviously, be ready for everything.

Overall, I felt that I controlled the match quite good.

Q. Just one more about Ernests. He was a semifinalist here three years ago. So what do you make of the fact that now he's almost out of top 200 and what kind of, I guess, reaction is it from you guys to see that? Because at some point he was doing really well.
MARIN CILIC: Well, it was definitely unfortunate for him, you know, since last year. I saw him in the summer. I believe Toronto was his last tournament and then he didn't play much until, you know, today. So I don't think he played more than, you know, six, seven tournaments. So definitely his ranking dropped.

But, you know, a guy with his potential, with his abilities, he's definitely able to get back quickly. And I think it's just most important for him to, you know, play consistently and to be healthy. And, you know, I don't think he's going to have such a huge trouble to go through the rankings.

Q. What is your assessment of your game right now?
MARIN CILIC: I'm feeling that this clay court season has been the best ever for me. A lot of good wins, a lot of good tennis, and I'm feeling really good on the court.

I'm very focused to continue with good tennis. You know, that's, I guess, most important part that I'm focused on, you know, to keep the things that I'm controlling, to keep the doing them well. And, you know, take every match, you know, quite seriously, quite focused, and to go match by match.

And, you know, it's a Grand Slam tournament. I've been far and the furthest places of the Grand Slam tournaments, so, you know, I'm looking forward to next challenges.

Q. Do you think at this point in your career, now that your results on clay maybe surprised you a bit, do you feel that you're at a place it doesn't matter the surface and you'll just try to go all out on any surface?
MARIN CILIC: The results didn't surprise me. I played well in the recent years as well. It's just a matter of, you know, clicking the game. And I felt also last year I played well. I was just having a short clay court season.

But this year been really, really feeling confident on clay and I believe this is going to help me a lot for even grass in later stages of the year. You know, playing more matches on clay, obviously, I think helps your confidence and so you're getting into a rhythm better.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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