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CHINA OPEN

October 8, 2011

Marin Cilic

BEIJING, CHINA

M. CILIC/I. Ljubicic
6-4, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Congratulations. Into the final in China Open second time. In the past two meeting you lost, and today you also lost seven break points and break your opponent three games. How do you do that? And can you talk about the final?
MARIN CILIC: What was that again? Oh, final. Yeah, today was really tough match, especially that first set. A lot of games were very close. He saved few break points in the beginning, and most of the games were on deuce, advantages, and you could feel little bit of tension in the air.
I would say that Ivan was mixing up his second serve today in the first set really well, and that enabled me to play better on his second serve. But definitely when that first break came I started to serve better. The last game of the first set was best so far in the game.
And beginning of the second set was really crucial. He had few break points and I started to serve maybe the best that I ever served.
To be second time in the final, you know, it's great feeling coming after this summer. I played some great tournaments, and I mentioned that I was in pretty good form. That pleases me a lot, that I know when I play well that I can beat those guys and that my tennis is on a good level, and on a level that's high enough to be able to play against those guys and be able to beat them.

Q. Could you talk about the atmosphere, maybe the challenge of playing in front of maybe less people than you would in other tournaments?
MARIN CILIC: Well, I mean, it's not really -- when we play, we are focused only on the ball and trying to focus what are we going to do on the court. It's of course better feeling when you are playing in front of a full stadium or in front of a lot of people.
But over here today, I think both of us, Ivan and me, are not the players that are changing our feelings or pushing so much with pumping the fists and things like that. So we are - I guess especially me - I'm just more focused on what I have to do on the court.
But anyway, I was feeling good on the court and the stadium is good to play on. It's a little more indoor atmosphere and the ball is cleaner, comes cleaner, and is, you know, a good feeling.

Q. Perhaps you could talk about your experience in China so far and what it's been like playing here.
MARIN CILIC: Okay. Well, the experience was extremely well, as I arrived a lot of days before just to prepare and to be ready for the tournament. I felt great welcome from the organization and all the people who are around the tournament.
So far, I don't have any complaints to make. Everything was working perfectly. Couple things also when I was doing some PR things there was a lot people there. So I think all in all it was pretty good.

Q. First of all, congratulations to be back in the final again. How much like a confidence boost that you acquired at this China Open for next year? As we all know, after the 2009 China Open, you enjoyed a very good start to the 2010 season. Talk about that.
MARIN CILIC: As I said, I think it was really important for me to use this form that I had when I came to the tournament. I felt that I was playing pretty good. In those few matches that I played three sets - yesterday also - it was crucial to go through them and get another chance to play. As you saw today, I think I played much better.
Just thinking about the next season, I think it's really important to have my form all the time pretty consistent and to have it on the rise and try to play a lot of tournaments and a lot of the matches. It gives you confidence definitely.
I hope I'm going to play until the end of the year a lot of matches and that I'm going to play well. And then to enter the new season like that it's a great relief, and gives you the better chance to win.

Q. Sounds like you're feeling pretty good. Tell us how you're looking forward to tomorrow's match, how you'll prepare for that? What sort of a match are you looking for? What sort of a plan are you going to bring?
MARIN CILIC: Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good and confident about my game. I think playing also a lot of tennis this week - played few matches three sets; I played some doubles - gave me a little more time to feel the ball better. And today, especially in the end of the match, I was playing really well.
Looking forward for tomorrow's match depending on the opponent. But both guys are big hitters, and they are very dangerous when they are on their day, especially Tsonga. He is maybe one of the best servers on the tour.
But I have my chances, and I'm pretty confident in my baseline game and the things I did this week. Just going to take it step by step.

Q. Hi, I'm a representative from the Beijing Student Press Association. Seeing as last time you played against Ivan you lost the match at Wimbledon, I believe, however this match you won relatively easily. Did you make my adjustments or go through any special training for this match?
MARIN CILIC: Yeah, I lost my last two meetings to Ivan. That one in Wimbledon was also close one, but today's match I came with I think better preparation than that time. I was expecting few more things, and in my tactical approach I was prepared a little bit better and that gave me a little more confidence on the court.
But I think I executed things pretty well, especially in this second set, which I think was extremely good.

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