Marin Čilić

Marin Čilić

Čilić at the 2015 Aegon Championships
Country (sports)	Croatia
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Born	(1988-09-28) 28 September 1988 Medjugorje, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
Turned pro	2005
Plays	Right-handed (two handed backhand)
Coach	Bob Brett (2004–2013) Goran Ivanišević (2013–)
Prize money	US$ 13,466,114
Singles
Career record	345–188
Career titles	14
Highest ranking	No. 8 (13 October 2014)
Current ranking	No. 12 (15 February 2016)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	SF (2010)
French Open	4R (2009, 2010, 2015)
Wimbledon	QF (2014, 2015)
US Open	W (2014)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	RR (2014)
Olympic Games	2R (2008, 2012)
Doubles
Career record	63–71
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 49 (15 April 2013)
Current ranking	No. 257 (1 February 2016)
Last updated on: 1 February 2016.

Marin Čilić (Croatian pronunciation: [ˌmâriːn ˈt͡ʃǐːlit͜ɕ]; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player whose biggest success to date is having won the 2014 US Open. So far Čilić has won 13 ATP singles titles. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 8, achieved in October 2014. Čilić first came to international prominence by defeating then World No. 2 Andy Murray in the fourth round of the 2009 US Open. He followed this by reaching the semifinals of the 2010 Australian Open. Čilić was also a quarterfinalist at the 2014 and 2015 Wimbledon Championships.

Čilić started to develop his career at a young age; his first steps of tennis started in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His potential was discovered by local hometown coaches who saw him play and encouraged his move to Zagreb for further training. He was soon befriended by his countryman Goran Ivanišević, who introduced him to coach Bob Brett. Čilić turned professional in 2005, and ultimately hired Ivanišević as his full-time coach in 2013.

Personal life

Marin Čilić was born to Herzegovinian Croat parents and grew up in Krstine, Medjugorje, a town in Herzegovina. He was raised as a Roman Catholic. His father Zdenko was determined that his sons — Marin and older brothers Vinko and Goran — would have the opportunities he lacked in playing sports. When the first tennis courts in the town were built in 1991, Marin and his friends were amongst the first to play on them. At the recommendation of Goran Ivanišević, Čilić moved in 2004 to San Remo, Italy, at the age of 15 to work with Ivanišević's former coach, Bob Brett. He has a younger brother, Mile, who also is playing tennis.

Tennis career

Junior circuit (2004–2005)

Čilić began playing on the junior ITF circuit in spring 2004. At the start he played on clay courts, winning the La Vie Junior Cup Villach in singles and the Dutch Junior Open in doubles. He then qualified for the 2004 US Open, where he lost in the second round to Sam Querrey. In 2005, he won the French Open title in Boy's singles, beating Andy Murray in the semi-final and Antal van der Duim in the final. He finished 2005 ranked number two behind American Donald Young. While on the junior circuit, he won six tournaments in singles and four in doubles with his Canadian partner, Greg Kates.

Before representing Croatia, he played for Bosnia and Herzegovina as a junior with partner Zachary Rosen.

ATP Tour 2004–2007

In 2004, Čilić played one Futures event (Croatia F1), at which he reached the second round; he finished the year tied at No. 1463 on the rankings of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP Tour). He played seven Futures tournaments in 2005, winning one, the Croatia F3 event; two Challenger tournaments, in Zagreb and Geneva; and one ATP International Series tournament, the Croatia Open, where he lost in the opening round. He finished the year ranked No. 587.

In 2006, he played three Futures, winning the Croatia F1 and Croatia F2 events. He also played in nine challengers, nine International Series events (reaching the semis at Gstaad), and two Davis Cup ties, against Austria and Argentina. By the end of the year, he was ranked No. 170.

In 2007, he won the first and second professional tournaments of his career: the Casablanca Challenger (in April) and the Rijeka Challenger (in May). In June, at the Queen's Club Championships, he beat Tim Henman in the first round after trailing 2–4 in the final set, and reached the quarterfinals, where he fell to Andy Roddick. After that performance, he reached a new career-high ranking of No. 101 on 18 June 2007.

In the World Group playoffs in the first round of the 2007 Davis Cup, Čilić beat Benjamin Becker of Germany; however, Croatia went on to lose the tie, three matches to two.

2008: First ATP singles title

In 2008, Čilić reached the semifinals at the Chennai Open, in both singles and doubles. In the singles, he was defeated by Mikhail Youzhny, who went on to win the tournament.

Čilić made it to the fourth round of the 2008 Australian Open, taking out two seeds on his way, including 2007 Australian Open finalist Fernando González. James Blake beat him in the fourth round. He had achieved his goal for the year of reaching the top 40. His fourth-round result at the Australian Open put him at no. 39 in the ATP rankings.

Čilić also made it to the fourth round of Wimbledon, beating Jarkko Nieminen in five sets in the second round and knocking out fourteenth seed Paul-Henri Mathieu. He lost in straight sets to Arnaud Clément.

At the Canada Masters, he defeated Andy Roddick in reaching the quarterfinal stage, giving his best performance in a Masters Series tournament to date. He lost in three sets to Gilles Simon in the quarterfinals.

Čilić played the Pilot Pen Tennis tournament in New Haven, Connecticut, where he won his first ATP title. He defeated Viktor Troicki, Jürgen Melzer, and Igor Andreev in early rounds, then 2007 finalist Mardy Fish in the final.

Čilić, seeded for the first time at a Grand Slam, reached the third round of the US Open, but lost to Novak Djokovic in a match that lasted almost four hours. Čilić came back from a break down in each of the second, third, and fourth sets. In the first round, he had defeated Julien Benneteau in five sets in a match that lasted more than four hours, winning the deciding set.

2009: First major quarterfinal

Čilić won his first title of 2009 and second career ATP title in the 2009 Chennai Open, defeating first-time finalist Somdev Devvarman.

He reached the fourth round of the 2009 Australian Open after beating David Ferrer in straight sets, equalling his 2008 record. In the fourth round, he was defeated by Juan Martín del Potro in four sets. Later in the year, Čilić won the PBZ Zagreb Indoors, defeating compatriot Mario Ančić in the final. He helped his country defeat Chilean opponents in the Davis Cup first-round tie by winning the opening singles match and joining forces with Mario Ančić to win the doubles rubber.

Čilić reached a career best at the French Open when he beat eighteenth seed Radek Štěpánek in the third round in straight sets. After two competitive sets against the third-seeded Andy Murray, Čilić lost the match.

Čilić at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships

He reached the second round of the Queen's Club Championships, an ATP World Tour 250 series event, where he was defeated by Nicolas Mahut of France. He beat Alberto Martín to make it into the second round at Wimbledon and won a five-set match (spread over two days) against Sam Querrey. He played another five-set match in the third round against Tommy Haas. He recovered from two sets down, but lost 10–8 in the deciding set, having held a match point.

During the hard-court season, Čilić was defeated in back-to-back events in the first round. At Washington, he was defeated in straight sets by Somdev Devvarman. He then failed to duplicate his quarterfinal appearance in Canada, losing to Mikhail Youzhny. In the 2009 US Open, as the 16th seed, he reached the fourth round, after defeating Ryan Sweeting, Jesse Levine, and Denis Istomin. He defeated Levine after being down two sets to love, coming back to win. He then scored the biggest upset of the 2009 US Open with a straight-sets victory over second-seeded Andy Murray in the fourth round. Čilić outclassed Murray by saving all the break points he faced and took advantage of Murray's unforced errors. After the match, he said it was the biggest win of his career to date. However, in the quarterfinals, he lost to the eventual champion Juan Martín del Potro, despite leading by one set and an opening break in the second set.

Following his impressive US Open run, Čilić participated in the 2009 China Open in Beijing as the eighth seed. He won his opening match against Russian Igor Andreev, followed by a three-set victory over Frechman Julien Benneteau. In the quarterfinals he defeated fourth seed Nikolay Davydenko, before stunning world No. 2 and top seed (in the tournament) Rafael Nadal in a straightforward win. In the final, Čilić went down to second seed Novak Djoković in straight sets.

He reached the fifth final of his career at the 2009 Bank Austria-TennisTrophy as top seed, however he lost. He received a wild card for the 2009 Davidoff Swiss Indoors, where he finished in the quarterfinals, losing to Radek Štěpánek. His final tournament of the year was the 2009 BNP Paribas Masters. Entered as 12th seed, he came from a set down to defeat Łukasz Kubot in the second round, and then from a set down again to defeat seventh seed Fernando Verdasco, before coming to a halt in the quarterfinals against eventual finalist Gaël Monfils.

2010: First major semifinal and top-10 ranking

Čilić won the 2010 Chennai Open final, beating Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland in straight sets.

Seeded 14th at the 2010 Australian Open, he defeated Fabrice Santoro, Bernard Tomic (in five sets), and Stanislas Wawrinka (in four sets). In the fourth round, he faced fourth seed and reigning US Open champion Juan Martín del Potro; it was their third meeting in the past five Grand Slams and the second major in a row where they met (also in the same round the previous year). In a match that lasted more than four and a half hours, Čilić defeated Del Potro to reach his second quarterfinal appearance at a Grand Slam. In the quarterfinals, he defeated seventh seed Andy Roddick in another five-set victory. In doing so, he became the first Croatian to reach the semifinals at the Australian Open. However, Čilić lost in four sets to Andy Murray, having won the first set. Čilić followed up his Australian campaign by defending his title in Zagreb, defeating Michael Berrer in the final. Čilić achieved a new career-high ranking of no. 9 as a result. Čilić was selected to play singles and doubles partnering with Karlović for the Croatia Davis Cup Team against Ecuador in March 2010. Čilić, seeded eighth, lost in the second round to Guillermo García-López at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open.

At the French Open, Čilić lost to Robin Söderling in the fourth round. Čilić was defeated in the first round of Wimbledon by Florian Mayer.

He reached the semifinals of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic in Washington, D.C., ending Mardy Fish's 11-match winning streak in the third round. Čilić was defeated by eventual champion David Nalbandian.

At the US Open, Čilić lost to Kei Nishikori in the second round.

2011: Sixth ATP title

Čilić began the season with a first-round loss to Kei Nishikori in Chennai, failing to defend his title. At the 2011 Australian Open he progressed to the fourth round, defeating Donald Young, Santiago Giraldo, and then John Isner in a five-set. In the fourth round, he lost to world No. 1 Rafael Nadal. Next, he went to Zagreb to defend another title. Again, he was unable to do so, falling to Florian Mayer in the quarterfinals.

Čilić played next in Rotterdam and lost to Viktor Troicki in the quarterfinals. He then played in Marseille, where he was unseeded. He defeated Tomáš Berdych in the quarterfinals and saved one match point in a comeback win against Mikhail Youzhny. He lost to Robin Söderling in the final. Čilić played for Croatia in the World Group playoffs in the first round of the 2011 Davis Cup, defeating Florian Mayer in the opening singles rubber. He leveled the tie at 2–2 by defeating Philipp Kohlschreiber in the first reverse singles rubber. However, Germany ultimately won the tie.

Cilic lost in the first round of the French Open to Rubén Ramírez Hidalgo and at Wimbledon to his compatriot Ivan Ljubičić.

At Umag, Čilić became the first Croatian man to reach the finals in over 20 years, losing to Alexandr Dolgopolov. He upset Juan Martín del Potro in the second round of the Rogers Cup and reached the third round of the US Open, losing to Roger Federer. In ATP 500 in Beijing, he lost the final against world No. 6 Tomáš Berdych in three sets. The next week he was upset by Albert Ramos in the Shanghai Rolex Masters. Cilic won his sixth career title in St Petersburg by defeating world No. 10 Janko Tipsarević in the final. En route to the final, he defeated Sergei Bubka, Somdev Devvarman, Andreas Seppi, and Mikhail Youzhny.

2012: Seventh and eighth ATP title

Čilić during the final of the 2012 Queen's Club Championships

Čilić did not play at the 2012 Australian Open. Cilic did play at Indian Wells. He lost in the second round to David Nalbandian. He was defeated by Juan Martín del Potro in the third round of Miami and the French Open. In June, Čilić won the Queen's Club Championships in London after his opponent in the final, David Nalbandian, was disqualified in the second set for aggravated behaviour, having kicked the hoarding around a linesman's chair, injuring the linesman.

In the third round of Wimbledon, he beat Sam Querrey 7–6, 6–4, 6–7, 6–7, 17–15 in the second-longest match ever played at Wimbledon in 5 hours and 31 minutes. He subsequently lost to Andy Murray in the following round. In July 2012, Čilić became the first home player to win the Croatia Open after 22 years by defeating Marcel Granollers of Spain in the final. Čilić was seeded 12th at the 2012 US Open, where he matched his 2009 effort in reaching the quarter-finals. He was defeated by the eventual champion Andy Murray despite winning the first set and leading 5-1 in the second set.

2013: Suspension and reinstatement

Čilić started his year at the Chennai Open, where he lost to Benoît Paire in the quarterfinal. In the 2013 Australian Open he was seeded 12th but was upset in the third round by Andreas Seppi in a five-set match. In February, Čilić played for Croatia in the Davis Cup World Group playoffs against Italy; he defeated Paolo Lorenzi in the opening singles rubber, and in the first reverse singles, he avenged his earlier loss to Seppi at the Australian Open, prevailing in a straight-sets win. Italy, however, won the tie eventually with a final score of 3:2.

At Zagreb, where he had won twice in 2009 and 2010, Čilić won for a third time to earn his ninth career title, defeating Jürgen Melzer in the final. Čilić was top seeded in the Memphis Indoor event but lost to Kei Nishikori, the eventual champion, in the quarterfinals. Čilić next played at Indian Wells, where he lost in the third round to Milos Raonic in three sets. In the following tournament at Miami, he defeated world No. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round but lost to Andy Murray in the quarterfinals.

Čilić started his clay season in Monte Carlo, but lost to Richard Gasquet in the fourth round. In May it was announced Čilić had left his longtime coach Bob Brett and would be coachless at tournaments before hiring a new one. At the French Open, he lost in the third round to Viktor Troicki in straight sets. In June, Čilić returned to Queen's Club to defend his title. He defeated world No. 6 Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinal, his second top 10 win of the year, and Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinal. In the final, Čilić lost to Andy Murray in three sets.

At Wimbledon Čilić had to pull out before his second round match due to a left knee injury where he was scheduled to play Kenny de Schepper of France. However, a month later it was revealed that Čilić had pulled out as he had been informed that he had failed a drugs test in Munich, allegedly for "incautious use of glucose." On 16 September 2013, he received a backdated nine-month ban for traces of nikethamide in a urine test. Čilić stated that someone from his team bought Coramine glucose tablets at a pharmacy and as a result the independent tribunal found that he did not intend to enhance his performance. The suspension ran until 1 February 2014 and all prize money and points since the positive test including the Munich tournament were null and forfeited. Cilic appealed against this ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who reduced the ban from nine months to four months on October 25. They stated that, "the degree of fault committed by the athlete was inferior to that established in the (tribunal) decision and the sanction imposed was too severe in view of the degree of fault" and concluded that it should be reduced to four months. Čilić, whose ranking had dropped to number 47, received an immediate boost as results at the French Open, Queen's and Wimbledon were reinstated.

In late 2013, Čilić started working with Goran Ivanišević as his new coach.

2014: First major title

Main article: 2014 Marin Čilić tennis season

Čilić at the 2014 Madrid Open

Čilić returned to the tour at Brisbane. He defeated Denis Istomin and Grigor Dimitrov to reach the quarterfinal, where he lost to Kei Nishikori. In Sydney, he lost to Denis Istomin in the second round. At the 2014 Australian Open second round, Čilić lost to Gilles Simon in five sets.

In February, Čilić successfully defended his title at Zagreb without dropping a set, winning his 10th career title. Čilić extended his winning streak at the Rotterdam Open. He defeated Lukas Rosol, world No. 10 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, world No. 6 Andy Murray and Igor Sijsling, reaching the second final of the season, where he lost to Tomas Berdych. Čilić continued his excellent form in Delray Beach, reaching his third consecutive final of the season, where he defeated Kevin Anderson and won his 11th singles title.

Čilić reached the fourth round of the Indian Wells Masters. He defeated Paolo Lorenzi and Tommy Robredo to set up a clash with Novak Djokovic. However, he lost the match in three sets. His good form came to an end in the Miami Masters where he lost to Édouard Roger-Vasselin in the second round.

During the clay season, Čilić reached the quarterfinals in Barcelona. He lost in early rounds in both Madrid Open and Rome Masters. At the French Open, Čilić reached the third round before losing to Novak Djokovic in four sets.

Čilić returned to Queen's Club in June, where he was last year's runner-up on the grass court, however he was knocked out by Marinko Matosevic in the first round. Čilić successfully rebounded at Wimbledon, reached the quarterfinals for the first time, beating Paul-Henri Mathieu, Andreas Haider-Maurer, Tomas Berdych and Jeremy Chardy before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic in five sets.

In July, Čilić played Croatia Open on home soil, where he was defeated in the semifinals by Tommy Robredo. In the warmup US Open Series, Čilić advanced to the third round at Rogers Cup, where he lost to Roger Federer in a close three-set match. In the following Cincinnati Masters, Čilić also reached the third round before losing to Stan Wawrinka.

Seeded 14th at the US Open, Čilić defeated Marcos Baghdatis, Illya Marchenko and Kevin Anderson with little trouble before reaching the fourth round, where he held off Gilles Simon for the first time in their five meets, winning the match in five sets. In the quarterfinals, Čilić dismissed world No. 7 Tomas Berdych in straight sets, and in the semifinals he beat world No. 3 Roger Federer convincingly, also in straight sets. This was his first win over Federer in their six matches. With this win, Čilić reached a Grand Slam final for the first time, in which he beat 10th seed Kei Nishikori in straight sets. By winning the US Open, Čilić brought Croatia a second Grand Slam men's singles title after his coach Goran Ivanišević triumphed in 2001 at Wimbledon. His victory in the final was also his 300th professional match victory.

Following his US Open victory, Čilić played for Croatia in Davis Cup World Group playoffs against Netherlands. Initially signed up for doubles rubber only, Čilić and teammate Marin Draganja beat Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer. After a 2:2 tie between two countries, however, Čilić stepped up and played the deciding fifth singles rubber in place of young compatriot Borna Ćorić, where he defeated Thiemo de Bakker. The victory earned Croatia the World Group status for 2015.

At China Open, Čilić advanced to the quarterfinal before losing to Andy Murray. In Shanghai Masters, Čilić was upset in the first round by fellow countryman Ivo Karlović after losing the tiebreak in the third set. Čilić, however, rebounded at Kremlin Cup, where he defeated Roberto Bautista Agut in the final and won his 4th title of the season. On Oct 18, it was announced Čilić, as the then reigning US Open champion, had become the 5th player (after Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka) to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals in London from 9–16 November. Čilić subsequently withdrew from the Valencia Open and Paris Masters in order to allow time for an arm injury to heal before the tour finals. He ultimately lost all three matches in the round robin.

Čilić finished the season as world No. 9 in year-end ATP rankings.

2015 14th ATP Title

A shoulder injury prevented Čilić from playing the Brisbane International and Australian Open.

After being sidelined for more than two months, Čilić made his season debut at the Indian Wells Masters. After receiving a bye in the first round, he lost in the second round to Juan Monaco in straight sets. Čilić subsequently withdrew from the Miami Open due to the shoulder problem.

Čilić returned to tour at Monte Carlo Rolex Masters, where he advanced to quarterfinals, before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

At the 2015 French Open, Čilić lost to David Ferrer in the fourth round in straight sets.

At Queen's Club Čilić was beaten in the second round by Victor Troicki in three sets.

Čilić matched his 2014 Wimbledon performance, reaching the quarterfinals again after eliminating Moriya, Berankis, Isner (12-10 in the fifth set), and Kudla.

2016

In the first major of the year, Australian Open 2016, Marin Čilić was seeded 12, but he was upset by Spain's Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round.

Clothing and equipment

Čilić plays with the Head YouTek Graphene Prestige Midplus and uses Luxilon Big Banger Alu Power tennis strings. He has worn Li-Ning apparel since the 2011 season, switching from Fila.

Career statistics

Main article: Marin Čilić career statistics

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Tournament	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	1R	4R	4R	SF	4R	A	3R	2R	A	3R	19–8	70.37%
French Open	1R	2R	4R	4R	1R	3R	3R	3R	4R		16–9	64.00%
Wimbledon	1R	4R	3R	1R	1R	4R	2R	QF	QF		17–8	68.00%
US Open	A	3R	QF	2R	3R	QF	A	W	SF		25–6	80.65%
Win–Loss	0–3	9–4	12–4	9–4	5–4	9–3	5–2	14–3	12–3	2–1	77–31	71.30%

Finals: 1 (1 Title)

Outcome	Year	Championship	Surface	Opponent in the final	Score in the final
Winner	2014	US Open	Hard	Kei Nishikori	6–3, 6–3, 6–3

External links

• Official website
• Marin Čilić at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Marin Čilić at the Davis Cup
• Čilić recent match results
• Čilić world ranking history
• Official Facebook page
• Website about Marin Čilić Template:En icon Template:Fr icon
• ATP DEUCE Magazine: On the Rise... Marin Čilić