At 36, Cilic doesn't yet feel ready to retire

Jules Hypolite

le 06/11/2024 à 21h37

1 min to read

Cilic Hangzhou

Marin Cilic made his return to the circuit this year, surprising everyone by winning the Hangzhou tournament last September.

The Croatian, currently ranked 196th, has made a fine comeback in the rankings after returning to competition at 778th in the world. He is coming off two consecutive knee operations which forced him to take a lengthy absence from the circuit.

In a lengthy interview with Tennis Majors, Cilic reveals that he's not done with professional tennis just yet: "I hope I can still be competitive. I just want to give myself a chance.

I was back in the limelight in 2022 with a semi-final at Roland Garros, a good US Open and a good Australian Open. I was unlucky at Wimbledon because of the Covid. But then I got injured.

I'd like to play for another two or three seasons. I'll try to pay attention to the calendar and play fewer tournaments. The motivation's still there.

The 2014 US Open winner also confided that he didn't want to end his career in the same way as other tennis legends: "With Roger, Andy and Rafa it happened suddenly. It was a shame to see Roger and Rafa be at their best and then have to stop like that.

Similarly for Andy, when he was at his peak, he had to have hip surgery. The sport has been cruel to them. They gave their all to the sport and it all stopped in a second."