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NITTO ATP FINALS

November 16, 2017

Marin Cilic

London, England, United Kingdom

R. FEDERER/M. Cilic

6-7, 6-4, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Three defeats, but three pretty close matches. You pushed a guy that most players haven't gotten anywhere near to today. How do you feel after that? How do you feel about going home, getting some time off now?
MARIN CILIC: Yeah, I think today was solid match. That's what I went to go out to play, try to play another good match. Obviously it's a little bit more difficult mentally knowing that I had two losses, that I'm not going to be able to go through.

But still, it was a very solid match from me. I played, I'd say, those first two sets a really good level. Even had a breakpoint there early in the second. I think overall with my game I was, you know, quite satisfied, played good tennis.

Just in the third set I felt like I dropped little bit with my serving percentage. Once Roger got the break, he was playing little bit looser, obviously played well.

But, you know, even though it's three losses, I felt that, you know, my tennis wasn't too far off of playing really, really well. You know, it's good positives at least in that. Hopefully I'm going to, you know, recover good and start a new season on a good level.

Q. You sat here at the end of last season and said, My goal for 2017 is to reach the top five. You've done that. Do you have a goal for next season? Do you think staying in the top five will be even tougher with guys like Murray and Djokovic coming back? How do you see their returns going?
MARIN CILIC: Yeah, I think looking ahead, obviously I'm going to try to set goals little bit in front. 3 would be nice.

You know, I'm definitely going to talk with my team. We did a lot of improvements in this year. It was extremely positive. I think I played extremely consistent throughout the season, especially starting from the clay court season.

Overall I felt that my level has come to a new level. So hopefully even more next year, I can aim a little bit higher. Where is that going to be? You know, I'm not sure. But hopefully I'm going to be in a position to challenge the top guys and to be in contention for Grand Slams.

Q. Back to this year. Can you tell me your highs and lows, what you would like to do better next year, if you have to prepare differently for some things.
MARIN CILIC: I would say that clay court season was extremely successful for me. I had the best clay court season ever. Played quite consistently there. I think that helped me to play well on the grass courts. With my form during the grass court season, I was really, really satisfied.

I think at that stage of the year I came to the point where I just got to the new level of consistency, playing week after week on a great level. Then after that, I just had little bit of a difficulty with the groin injury, so just pushed me back for US Open. I was not ready.

But obviously after that, I found my form again and played well. Just in these last three weeks - Basel, Paris and here - with my form, I didn't keep it up. I think just going to have to find a reason with my team why it happened, especially at this crucial stage of the year where a lot of points could have been won.

A little bit unfortunate to just drop the form at the end.

Q. You played here three times now. How have you found the atmosphere this year? Given the absence of so many players who would normally be here, is the atmosphere different?
MARIN CILIC: I think the atmosphere has been really good. You could see that the crowd -- I think the stadium was full almost every single match, even for doubles.

It's amazing event here that ATP has done. I think it's, I would say, probably the best one in the year that we have. Definitely they did a great job. It's always a pleasure to be a part of it.

Q. How does your off-season look? I'm not interested in your vacation, but preparing for the new season. When will it start? Do you plan any changes in the off-season on preparing the new season?
MARIN CILIC: This year I'm going to have a little bit more time than last year. It was a little bit more difficult last year. I'll try to focus on my fitness, especially in this first part, until maybe December 10, December 15, to try to maybe get a little bit stronger, quicker also around the court.

Tennis-wise, you know, I think I found some good things that were working out quite well during the season for me. I was even a little bit more focused to have little bit more athletic exercises during my tennis. That helped me, I think, to stay in good shape.

I'll try to, you know, get back to that, get back to basics, and even try to lift a little bit the form towards the end of that off-season period. I really enjoy that part of the year. It's a part where I can improve a lot. I'm looking forward to it.

Q. It was not a good end of the season, okay, but you have been Grand Slam champion. With these big four, only one was here this time, but you have proved that it's possible. You don't lose your faith for being 7 or 8 of the world, but you want more?
MARIN CILIC: Yeah, absolutely. And also this is the first season for me that I started in top 10 and finished in top 10. That just shows the consistency level. I'm very much aware of my game, that even though, for example, in this year I didn't start so well, I didn't lose faith. So I played really well that middle patch of the year.

So, you know, hopefully for next year I'm going to be even better throughout the full season. That's going to give me the chances, you know, to play the best guys on a Grand Slams and to perform over there the best.

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