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AEGON CHAMPIONSHIP

June 22, 2017

Marin Cilic

London, England

M. CILIC/S. Kozlov

6-0, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I know today going into this you had an American qualifier, somebody that maybe would have been easy to underestimate and maybe not come in as aggressive or thinking you're not going to have to work that hard. How did you approach today?
MARIN CILIC: Well, I approached today as any other day, definitely. And especially when you're in this kind of a tournament, playing on grass and playing a youngster like Kozlov, you have to be ready from the first point.

I watched him play a little bit last week in 's-Hertogenbosch, and he was playing also quite all right. He got a few good wins over here in quallies and then against Johnson.

Definitely I was prepared fully, and I approached it in the best possible way for me. I think I played really well. Served extremely good. I think he was struggling a bit with his serve, so didn't have such a great rhythm. That gave me a little bit more freedom to play on his second serve and just to -- I was able to, you know, control most of the rallies in that first set, and obviously important was to get the break in the second, too.

Q. You had a really good run in Paris.
MARIN CILIC: Yeah.

Q. Playing very confidently. Are you feeling your best level again right now?
MARIN CILIC: I'm playing well really since the clay season started. I played great in Monte-Carlo. Also had a great tournament in Istanbul. Rome, as well. I lost unfortunately to John over there without dropping a serve and then had a great run at French Open.

So in these last two, three months, you know, feeling great on the court and I would say consistently-wise maybe the best ever for me.

But, you know, still I have to work to improve some areas of my game and, you know, just maybe get better day after day.

Q. You're the top seed left. Do you feel extra pressure to win this title? Do you feel confident you will win it?
MARIN CILIC: No, not at all. I don't feel any extra pressure or any more confidence. I know this tournament is maybe strongest in the year when you're looking to the field of a 500 category, so I'm just focused on my own things, my part of the court, trying to do that well.

Q. You did well in Roland Garros, but what's the difficulty to change your game to the grass season?
MARIN CILIC: I think obviously always it's a tricky part to get used to the movement. But otherwise, the points are shaped up a little bit differently. You are playing a little bit more, you know, short points, trying to find maybe weaknesses in the opponent and also trying to exploit them at the right moments.

For me, also, preparing myself is -- you know, that clay season has helped me to be in a good rhythm, good form, hitting the ball well. That's very important when you step on the grass courts. That's I guess the base to start with. From then on you are sort of trying to build up.

Obviously my sort of game style helps me to adapt a little bit easier, having a serve that can give me a little bit more freedom, more free points in that I'm not relying also on the rallies.

And then another part definitely is to be very aggressive but also, you know, sneaking in sometimes when I have opportunities, definitely playing the right way for grass courts.

Q. How much of an impact has the addition of an extra week between Roland Garros and Wimbledon made for the grass court season?
MARIN CILIC: Just gives you an option to play extra week, an extra week. I mean, just straight after French Open, one week there, one week here. I never play before Wimbledon just to get ready. So this, I think, helps out everyone. I think in the end, it helps out for everyone performances on Wimbledon that tennis is maybe just slightly better.

Q. Where do you rank grass as a tennis player as a surface?
MARIN CILIC: For me, if we would have played a little bit more on grass probably it would be No. 1. But, you know, as it's such a short season, you can have some top draws over here. I played John first round, and then last week I lost to Karlovic, and you can have those matches where you're not dropping your serve and still losing them. So it's not all about you on the court.

But generally I enjoy to play on grass. Last few years have been really good for me, considering the results and also the way I was playing.

Q. So far you've got the All-American draw here. Donald Young next?
MARIN CILIC: American Nationals.

Q. Donald Young has had great success, especially in Roland Garros with doubles. So as you approach this next match, what are your thoughts?
MARIN CILIC: My thoughts are again quite similar. I have to get ready completely. I played Donald several times in the past, and the last match that we played was in Tokyo almost two years ago. That one was quite difficult. It was three-setter and he had a lot of chances in that match, too.

And especially grass courts I think are, you know, for Donald, suit him quite well as he's got that lefty swinging serve. He's got a lot of variety in his shots and then using his forehand really well and playing quite smart on grass.

So definitely going to have to serve well, play well, and get ready.

Q. You're one win away from being world No. 6, a career high for you last year. You spoke in Paris about coming into the top 5 again. The five guys above you are pretty much the strongest guys we have had over the last five years. How do you go about bridging that gap now, and who do you target as the person who could drop out and you replace them?
MARIN CILIC: For me, it's just a matter of obviously focus on myself. That's what I did in last several months. Even though I had another great start to 2017, I still get my goals. I knew that my good tennis is going to come up, and the year is quite long. For me, still the target is top 5, but, you know, all those top five guys are definitely amazing players.

For me, to be even close to them is definitely great, a great challenge and big motivation. I'm pushing myself forward, improving week after week, and hoping that definitely at the end of the year when I'm going to be looking back that I'm going to have a great season.

Q. Do you see those five as the guys who will challenge you most at Wimbledon? Do you see yourself breaking through those guys and potentially being a real challenger there?
MARIN CILIC: It's tough to say, because you have also Milos who is not in that group, and he had injury during the American tour, so, you know, he's going to bounce back. He's always going to play well there. You have guys like Dimitrov, Kyrgios, Zverev. They are all potentially tough players.

So, you know, I don't think that just top 5 are going to be the threat.

Q. Over the past seven days, lots of people have been talking about Andy Murray winning the title, Wawrinka winning, and not many people talk about you, yourself, even though you have won a Grand Slam title. Do you think you're underestimated at times?
MARIN CILIC: Not necessarily, but, you know, the media attention is always to the small part of players, and that's the way it goes. Obviously Andy has done extremely well in these last 12 months. Actually, unbelievably well. And so it's quite fair that the attention is on him. Before that, it was on Novak. Before that, it was on Rafa and Roger and so on. That's a normal thing and the things how they go.

But still, for me, I don't mind that. Just it's less talking for me, which is good (smiling). I'm still focused on myself to improve.

Q. (Question about benefits of his game.)
MARIN CILIC: No, no, it's just -- I don't think it matters much. Just for me, motivationally-wise, I have to definitely look forward. I'm setting up some goals for myself, some targets with the game where I want to go to, and that's what's driving me.

Q. There aren't many men on the tour that have a Grand Slam title but you're in that bunch. Over the past couple of years, how has that changed your approach to Grand Slams? Your mentality, pressure you feel, anything like that?
MARIN CILIC: Mentality-wise, for me, changed, I would say, dramatically because I was always playing well in Grand Slams, but it changed, you know, a considerable amount, which has helped me to understand that I'm able to win. That's what's most important. When you don't have a Grand Slam victory, you have always questions in your mind, can you do it and are you ready, are you physically prepared?

So, for me, those questions are out of the way, and the biggest focus is on me to getting to the point with my form to be at a high peak.

Q. Many players talk about form, physical part of the game, but we know that the mentality is equally if not more important. What things do you do to prepare your mind for an important match?
MARIN CILIC: The way you prepare your mind is obviously by training, getting adapted to difficult situations, but also having a good schedule. You know, when you're playing week after week and your body is getting so much more tired, it's not easy to push yourself week after week when you're at the tournaments.

So I think picking out the right schedule definitely helps a lot. And from what you can see from the top guys, Roger that has done so many years and Novak last several years that he was not playing so much so that he can mentally be ready. It was a little bit different with Andy last year because he was running for that No. 1 spot, but I feel that's the biggest thing. When you're a little bit lower ranked, you need to win more because you are not winning as much but you need to find some balance.

Q. You're playing doubles this week. How does it help your singles game?
MARIN CILIC: Well, I'm trying to work a little bit more on my serve-and-volley game. My volleys, as they are, they are quite good, but just positioning and maybe, you know, playing a little bit more volleys can help me in singles to feel a little bit better in that part of the court that's closer to the net.

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