Marin Cilic’s Frustration at Wimbledon
In a recent match at Wimbledon, Marin Cilic expressed frustration over the scheduling of his fourth-round encounter, which took place at 11 a.m. local time against Flavio Cobolli. Despite the early start, Cilic, who is 36 years old, felt the conditions of the No. 2 Court were less than ideal due to overnight rain that left the surface soft.
Cilic was forced to warm up indoors since the practice courts do not open until 9:30 a.m., leading him to question the wisdom of having matches start so early in the day in the later rounds of the tournament.
“It’s hard to play at 11 a.m. under these conditions, especially when it rained the night before,” Cilic remarked after his defeat, which ended with a scoreline of 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3).
He was the only competitor among the eight singles matches scheduled that day to face such an early start time, as the other matches on the more prestigious Centre Court and No. 1 Court began two hours later.
Cilic’s Comeback Journey
Cilic, who previously captured the U.S. Open title in 2014 and was a runner-up at Wimbledon in 2017, is in the midst of a comeback after undergoing two knee surgeries and participating in Challenger Tour events earlier this year. He had even needed to qualify for the French Open, where he was ousted in the first round.
Despite the disappointment of his early exit, Cilic has a positive outlook on his performance at Wimbledon, stating,
“I came away with great encouragement, a positive attitude, and some excellent outcomes from this tournament. I was finding my form and played some fantastic tennis throughout my matches.”
