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AEGON CHAMPIONSHIP

June 25, 2017

Marin Cilic

London, England

F. LOPEZ/M. Cilic

4-6, 7-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. A difficult defeat for you, considering you played so well.
MARIN CILIC: Yeah.

Q. Weren't broken. Played really well all week. I guess you're taking the positives, despite not coming away with a title?
MARIN CILIC: I have to. That's the only thing positive (smiling).

I was playing really well during all week, and today, as well. I have to say the level was great from both sides. Feliciano was serving I think really, really good. It was quite difficult for me on the returns to find some openings.

I had big chance on first game of the second set. Had a break-point sitter that I missed long, and then after that, I was not creating as many chances as that small patch between the end of the first and beginning of the second set.

Overall, I have to say that I was playing definitely really, really good level. Had a match point at the end. He saved with a great volley. And then we had a couple great rallies in the end of the tiebreak, so, you know, overall I have to say that if it would have gone also on my side or his side, you know, for both of us, we deserved a win.

Q. In his presser, he had a lot of complimentary things to say about you today as well as the fact that he felt lucky. Sometimes when you lose, you lose because you didn't perform your best or didn't give it your all. But today wasn't the case. How much confidence do you still have after today?
MARIN CILIC: Well, looking on the whole week, it was great tennis for me. I have to say maybe one of the best grass court tournaments for me overall throughout my career, looking at the consistency of the game. I lost only once the serve during whole week, which is amazing, considering last week I haven't lost a serve in Netherlands, too. That makes it even better.

Looking to my game, I'm feeling great on the court, moving well, playing well. I was even today against Feliciano making more pressure on him, on his service games than what he did on mine. That's another plus. So overall, feeling really satisfied, and I think I need just now few days to recover mentally. Then I can continue with good form.

Q. What difference has Jonas Bjorkman made to your game? You seem to be more free in the way you play.
MARIN CILIC: I have been always playing well with my own shots. Overall, my game has been quite solid from all around, looking every shot. I'm able to hit quite well.

So we just try to obviously bring that up in one piece, and I think just a little bit mentality on the court has shifted since we started to work together. I'm a little bit more, at the tournament, have a little bit more positive words that I'm giving to myself just to push me a bit more.

That's working really well that I'm, you know, keeping up my good tennis and level, good level.

Q. One of the things Feliciano said about you, he said, which Goran echoed, was he thought you were in the top three favorites for Wimbledon right now, along with Federer and Nadal. Do you see yourself at that level right now, or do you have a goal for Wimbledon?
MARIN CILIC: Yeah. It's interesting that he won a tournament and that I'm the favorite (smiling).

I'm playing well. I'm playing really well, and especially last few months. For me, I'm keeping my feet on the ground. I'm going to use this week to work well. Definitely I'm going to get into Wimbledon with good determination, good confidence.

I played a lot of matches. Played high-quality tennis. It's also a matter of executing things well on the court. That's where my focus is going to be.

Q. Feliciano also said that Roger is the No. 1 contender. Would you agree with that, going into Wimbledon?
MARIN CILIC: Difficult to say. You know, Roger didn't play much, so it's tough to know his form. You know, just looking at the results he has on grass, it's obvious that you have to put him up there.

All the other guys at the top didn't perform too well, and definitely that opens up a gap. But, you know, to say that he's No. 1 favorite, you know, it could be true but also could not be. Definitely he's going to be playing really well, and, you know, he's feeling at home in Wimbledon.

Q. You must not really fear anyone right now. Your losses are going to be so narrow if you're serving like that. That must obviously make you feel you can go further than the quarterfinals that you have been to before?
MARIN CILIC: It could be. It's also, you know, a matter of not feeling too confident, just not to get too comfortable on the court, things are not going so easily. I have worked definitely a lot to get to this level, so I'm going to try to be focused still on that, and, you know, looking obviously forward to the tournament. Definitely hoping that I can go further than last three years.

Q. Your serve is such a huge weapon, and everyone likes to say an ace is a free point. But we all know there is a lot of work that goes behind that. It's not free.
MARIN CILIC: Yeah.

Q. Tell us about how much you train on your serve and why that's so important to you.
MARIN CILIC: It's I think a feeling thing. I worked a lot on the serve in these last two months. In the first part of the year I was not serving so well, so we adjusted a couple things.

I improved a little bit my speed on the serve. Also accuracy. And also following that up with aggressive shots, either backhand or forehand. I was also working a lot this week on pushing myself to come forward after serve, to use that, as well.

You know, overall, looking to the serve, you have to just have enough options and not just to rely on couple things. So that makes it definitely a dangerous part. It's not easy to get to that position. And definitely, you know, serving well is not -- winning a lot of service games is not just about the serve. You have to, you know, back that up with a lot of other shots.

Q. Lots of people are saying it's the most open Wimbledon there has been on the men's side for years. Do you agree with that? Do you think it's an especially good opportunity for you?
MARIN CILIC: Yeah, I would agree. It was the case also in Australia. Actually not before, because Andy was in such great shape before. And Novak, too.

But yeah, definitely I would say the top guys haven't played the best of their best, so definitely it opens up a gap for a lot of guys.

Q. Looking back to last week when you played Ivo Karlovic, you were unbroken but you lost two tiebreaks. Lopez, unbroken. Lost with two tiebreaks. Can you talk about that.
MARIN CILIC: Yeah, I had also another match that I lost without losing a serve against Isner in Rome. So I'm bringing these few more into the closet.

Yeah, it's definitely tough with that. Losing especially today in a final, a big tournament like this, knowing that I still played really well, still have to tell myself that it was a great week even though it's definitely disappointing in the end.

Q. When you play a tiebreaker, what's the hardest part? Mental side or physical side?
MARIN CILIC: It's obviously a lot of mental. You have to put focus on every point. You know, every point counts a little bit more than the regular games. You cannot have much of loose points. So, you know, it comes down to one point in the end. You know, today, for example, there was one point on 6-All in the tiebreak where Feliciano hit a lob on the baseline directly, so always works in couple centimeters here and there. That can definitely make a big difference.

Q. Obviously doing well on the serve in general, but these kind of tight losses, are you not thinking you need to be a bit more proactive in breaking serve and working harder on returning ahead of Wimbledon?
MARIN CILIC: I was definitely quite focused even today and yesterday, playing both Gilles and Feliciano. On the return games, I created a lot of chances. Especially yesterday. Today, as well. After that first set, beginning of the second, gave myself some opportunities.

Definitely I was keeping up high pressure on Feliciano and his service games. He was not feeling too comfortable and didn't win too many without dropping any points. So that was good.

You know, the only thing I can work on definitely is, you know, a little bit playing tiebreaks in the practice and just focusing on those points when it counts the most.

Q. In comparison to another tall player like John Isner, you move really well, and the thing I see is the knee bend. That's something that John doesn't tend to do, as well. Does that come naturally to you, or do you really work on that? Because as a tall player, it's harder.
MARIN CILIC: Yeah, well, the starting point is obviously natural physicalities. I'm usually quite flexible and moving around the court quite quick. So that's obviously first thing. And then you have to work that out around your game.

John has, you know, different weapons in his own game and definitely he's working on that. Obviously we all can improve in getting faster, which I think is the most important ability in tennis. If you are quick enough you are closer to the ball. Quicker, you can be more aggressive with the ball and all these other things.

So, you know, always working on that, and that's obviously something that has helped me to become better and better as a player.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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