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AEGON CHAMPIONSHIPSJune 16, 2013Marin CilicLONDON, ENGLAND A. MURRAY/M. Cilic THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. I know it's a little disappointing to lose a final, and you were the defending champion, but how do you view that match? You actually had a chance of winning. MARIN CILIC: Yes, I would say the match was on an extremely high level. Maybe just towards the end of the match, after two or two‑and‑a‑half hours of play, is never easy to keep that level of play, but definitely those first two sets was great, great tennis. I was playing well. I was very positive on the court, which I like the most. From all the things that I played well, from all the things that I did on the court, I can't put any of the things I didn't do good. So I will say great, great level of tennis and just really excited that I had great week, played a lot of tough matches, few three‑setters, and just happy that I did real well this week and prepared for Wimbledon in a good way. Q. Do you think at the end, that final set, what was the actual difference between the two? Because Andy came on really strongly. MARIN CILIC: Yes, I would say that Andy had started to serve really better, much better towards the end of the second set, and that in the third set, as well. That made huge difference in just allowing him to have free points and allowing him to play more free, and then also on my service games to be more aggressive and to put more pressure on me. That's always the case when the one person is winning his games much easier than the other one, then I felt that today that was the biggest difference in the end. Q. With Wimbledon just a week away, how do you assess your form? It's been a great week for you. Wimbledon is starting just eight days from now. MARIN CILIC: Yeah, my form is on a very good level, on the level where I want it to be. I'm going to have now also couple matches in Stoke Park playing few exhibition matches. I'm going to rest a little bit and try to practice a few things that I want to. I came here already ten days ago and had enough play on grass, so definitely going to be feeling very well and just hoping that I'm going to keep my form and still in a positive spirit. So just looking forward to Wimbledon to start and to play well. Q. Particularly in the first two sets, there wasn't really much there at all and you had break points on Andy in the second set, as well. What do you think changed? Was there some point that changed the sway of the match towards the third set? MARIN CILIC: Just with I'd say that Andy started to serve a bit better. I went down with my first‑serve percentage, and we played much more on my service games on the second serve. Maybe even there were a couple of games where I served well, but overall, when looking the games that were very close, I would say I felt that he was always there close by on my service games. That made a bit difference, as on his service games I wasn't able to try some other things to play a little bit different tactically, and then more pressure on my service games that I can't really do, experiment too much, I would say, in my own, as most of the points were pretty close and the result was always pretty close in my service games. Q. He seemed to improve as the match went on. Did you see it like that, as well? Particularly in the third set, he seemed much stronger than he was in the first set. MARIN CILIC: Yes, I would say that his serve obviously helped him there. And for me it was difficult, I'd say, to return, to make pretty good returns, as in those first two sets I felt I was returning a lot and returning most of his serves back. Over there towards the end of the match I felt a bit return, I went down, and obviously it helped him get more free points and also to get that first ball after the serve a little bit easier to hit through. Obviously he was not missing on those balls, and that made it I think a bit difficult for me. Q. With Wimbledon just a week away, what do you make of your form? You looked like you could go deep into the tournament. Do you think? MARIN CILIC: I truly hope so. And just sometimes never easy, when you are starting a new tournament, to also keep playing well. And it can vary with the conditions, but I feel like I'm playing very well. I had different opponents during the week, played servers, played Lleyton who is great defender, played Andy today, also, who is extremely all‑around player, and Berdych who is great hitter. I played most of the types of the game and felt pretty good on the court, pretty good with my own game what I did well, and just gonna take bit of rest and of course to be very positive for preparation and to start Wimbledon hopefully in a good way. Q. In that form, do you think Andy ‑‑ and everyone in Britain wonders‑‑ will he win Wimbledon? Do you think he's in the form that he could win the Championships? MARIN CILIC: Yes, yes, I would say so. I mean, obviously Nadal, he's there as maybe the guy who is in top form but hasn't played much ‑‑he played only one tournament on hard court and hasn't played this week or he's not going to play next week, so that's never easy, and a bit tricky to say how he's going to be in the form from the other top guys. Federer, okay, he's always there. He's going to be there. But looking to Andy, I think he has a good shot playing well and obviously he's very motivated and he's going to be difficult to beat. Q. For anybody? MARIN CILIC: Yeah. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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