Marin Cilic would hardly consider himself the Picasso of men’s tennis.
That’s not to doubt his creative ability, but the rangy Croatian would be mad to give up his day job for a paintbrush and easel, since becoming the newest member of the Grand Slam winners’ elite.
His coach, fellow Croatian and former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, might be referring more to point construction and groundstrokes than scene composition and brushstrokes. He does seems to have an eye for art, though, when he sees it.
And for the 43-year-old Ivanisevic, that came during this year’s US Open campaign, where his charge dismantled more fancied opponents – Tomas Berdych, Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori – back to back without conceding a set to join his countryman as a grand slam champion.
The flashy coach – whose quips off the court can be as colourful as his antics on it – points to Cilic’s imposing title run at Flushing Meadows as reason to believe he is destined for bigger breaks in the new season, starting with Brisbane.
“Through the year he played better and better. He tried to play an aggressive game that we spoke a lot about. I had thought he should play that way even when I was not his coach. He improved at the slams and then played perfect matches in the US Open quarters, semis and finals. It was the art of tennis,” Ivanisevic said.
Cilic’s US Open victory made him one of only three men outside the Big Four to have won a grand slam title since 2005, with Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro and Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka the only others.
Returning to the Brisbane International for the second time, the 26-year-old has time on his side if he is to surpass the sole major his coach won in 2001.
“Knowing that I have this grand slam in my closet is for sure, going to bring me more freedom in my game,” the world No.9 said. “My game is enough if I’m playing it well to win a grand slam. For confidence, I feel I’ve beaten these best players at the big occasions, with Roger in semis, with Berdych in quarters and Nishikori in the final. It’s big confidence knowing that I can do it and next time hopefully I’m going to be in those situations and hopefully handle them even better.
On debut at the 2014 Brisbane International, Cilic upset Grigor Dimitrov on his way to the quarterfinals, before falling to the man he thwarted for the US Open crown, Nishikori.
“This year I played there in Brisbane for the first time and I really loved the tournament. The organisation is really, really at the top and I think that attendance was the most, I wouldn’t say surprisingly, but put a nice experience onto me. It was really packed every day,” Cilic said. “I feel that also preparation-wise it’s perfect to come to Australia already a couple of weeks before to get ready for Australian heat and I really like to play in Australia so it was one of the obvious choices to come next year.”
The next Cilic masterpiece could well be in the works.
You can catch Marin Cilic in action at the Brisbane International 2015, presented by Suncorp and supported by Tourism and Events Queensland. The event will be held at Queensland Tennis Centre from 4-11 January. Tickets are now on sale through Ticketek.
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