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U.S. OPEN

September 5, 2018

Marin Cilic

New York, NY, USA

K. NISHIKORI/M. Cilic

2-6, 6-4, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Obviously not the result you were looking for. A hard-fought battle. A great run here. You know, two warriors out there battling. Talk about the tournament. Actually, talk about the match and maybe reflect on the tournament.
MARIN CILIC: Yeah. Well, I felt the match was, you know, quite good, quite high standards, considering also the heat and the humidity was definitely tough. It was, again, heavy days to play.

I came out in the match great, 6-2, 4-2 serving, and everything was going great. Just a little bit of shift of the momentum there. Kei started to hit a little bit better. He broke me. He won six games in a row there, converted three of three break points. Just put me back a bit on my back foot.

From that point on, I felt the match was quite even. I came back. I had, you know, some chances, tiebreak, 4-3 up, two serves. I lost it. Came back in the fourth. Also fifth I felt quite good with winning the fourth physically, as well. Came back in that one.

You know, I felt that I created enough chances to even maybe win earlier, win that second set, and had some chances, as well, in the third. Just, you know, unfortunate to lose that. With a great quality player like Kei, he also had his chances, and he made it, converted. So, you know, came down to couple points.

Q. I know it's fresh after the loss, but positive takeaways after the tournament?
MARIN CILIC: Yeah, definitely. It's been a good tournament. I had some tough matches coming to the court. I also was not feeling maybe the best in some cases. You know, I had some ups and downs during the tournament, but I was, you know, fighting good, fighting hard. That was one of the very positive things. Battled also with the heat quite well.

Just a little bit disappointed obviously with the loss today. It was a good chance, as well, big battle to go into the semis, but just well done to Kei.

Q. Could you talk about your serve in today's match? In the first set you were serving almost perfectly, but seems like in the middle of the second set things changed a little bit.
MARIN CILIC: Yeah, I felt that I was serving the best today out of the whole tournament. I kept my speed quite high. Mixed it up well.

Just a little bit lost focus there on 4-2. You know, I felt, after I got the break from 3-2 to go up to 4-2, you know, I felt even that Kei was not into it as much. Then I lost first two points on my service game. He came back. He started to feel that he might break me. I just gave him an opportunity to come back.

After that, you know, the rest of the match was, you know, a little bit up and down. Some games serving really good; some not so. I felt that he was returning also quite good, and the game was not the same after those first two sets. It was just slightly different.

Q. You talked about Kei's return, and once he got into a rhythm, but what else did he do, do you think, especially well at the end there to trouble you?
MARIN CILIC: I felt once we were getting into the rallies he was slightly more consistent, and he had in, most of the rallies -- not most of them, but maybe 60% of the rallies that he was the one that was dictating and creating chances.

I felt that I lost some of the points where it was sort of both of us could win it, and just missed maybe the first shot in the rally or the return or just after return I would miss a couple of shots. So it was just not finding rhythm there.

You know, in some cases, some games was I would connect and play three, four, five, six points good and then create myself opportunities, and then I would waste it. So it was, from my own side, a little bit up and down.

I was struggling a little bit on the second-serve return. That was just a bit difficult. You know, I felt that once he had the ball in the middle of the court, he was, you know, controlling and playing well what he's doing usually well.

Q. You've played him on a number of occasions. Just talk about the way he's playing right new. He has a long road still to go. Do you think he's got the game to maybe hoist that trophy?
MARIN CILIC: Yeah, of course. I mean, he's playing really well. He's in the semis, and with these kind of conditions, I think he dealt with it quite good today.

You know, now playing Djokovic or John, so I think for him is definitely good challenge coming back to the semis and creating another opportunity. I felt that he was hitting the ball really clean, really well, as he usually does, and I wish him luck.

Q. Before today's match, at the press conference, Kei said every time he plays against you he remembers the match you and he had in the final four years ago. When you played against Kei, do you feel some advantage mentally, especially on this court?
MARIN CILIC: No, not really. I mean, just focus what I have to do today, you know, like in today's match. Obviously we've played many times, and I try to also look back on the matches that I played well just to prepare a little bit more tactically what I need to do.

But that match was four years ago, so I feel that we are both different, and still, we both need to bring the tennis and bring the really good game to the match. It's not that just psychologically it's going to be taken care of.

I felt that I was fighting well and that I was giving myself a chance. Even in the fifth set, I felt that if I stay in there I could have another chance, which I did. I came back, but it was a little bit unfortunate to lose it in the last game.

Q. I think you played this year on clay with him. Did you find some difference of Kei's game from the last years?
MARIN CILIC: I don't know. I mean, he changed his motion on the serve. He's not connecting his feet anymore.

Other than that, not really. You know, he's still hitting the ball quite cleanly, quite good, great backhand. You know, I feel that his game is quite similar as couple years ago, as well.

Q. Do you think that service-wise his service is getting more effective?
MARIN CILIC: I don't know. It depends on him, you know, what he feels. I think he's still serving good.

Q. Do you mind if I ask your opinion about the other semi, Rafa/Del Potro, what you think? Is there a favorite?
MARIN CILIC: Looking just at their matchups, previous, even this year, French Open and Wimbledon, Wimbledon I didn't watch, but French Open I did a little bit, and even here last year, I think in the rallies, Rafa was slightly better and he was able to expose Juan Martin in the rallies.

I feel that this tournament, Juan Martin is hitting a little bit bigger off his backhand. That can help him.

You know, in the other case, Rafa had a tougher draw to go through the semis, but, you know, he's got two days now to recover, so he's gonna be fresh.

I don't know. I would give slight advantage to Rafa, but I feel it's gonna be a great match.

Q. Did you watch Rafa versus Dominic last night?
MARIN CILIC: Maybe one set, just in the middle of the match. I went to sleep (smiling). But, yeah, it was a great match. Definitely unfortunate for Dominic. He's playing great tennis. And also, he pulled out in Cincy or Toronto, I'm not sure, he was ill.

But he's hitting big, hitting it nicely, and, you know, just pity for him that he didn't make it through.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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