THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 29, 2026

Marin Cilic

Press Conference

D. MEDVEDEV/M. Cilic

6-1, 6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. That was such a tough draw.

MARIN CILIC: Yes. Yes, it was.

Q. What's been the mindset going into it? Now do you feel because you did so well last year here, but luck wasn't on your side?

MARIN CILIC: Yeah, I mean, coming into the match, you know, I had to expect any kind of draw, for sure, because I'm not seeded. Then, you know, I have to either play a first or second round of a seeded guy.

Overall, the grass season, I felt okay. Nothing sensational, but also on the level not too bad. Played Daniil also a couple weeks ago, and then he also played really well there in 's-Hertogenbosch. Today, definitely played very clean, a clean match.

He did what he usually does really well. He did that extremely well today.

Was just a pity in that third set, I managed to find some good rhythm, some good tennis. But, you know, it was just a touch too late.

Yeah, overall, of course I would have loved to stay and to play more, but, you know, it is what it is.

Q. You'll be back here next year?

MARIN CILIC: I hope so. Yeah, I don't have any plans like, you know, the set plans for that. I'll definitely try to play until the end of the year, and then I'll see. I'll see how it goes.

I'm not setting anything in stone. But I'm still enjoying and still feeling good.

Q. You have a lot of experience on the tour. We're seeing players getting injured left and right and dropping like flies at this point, all ages, every ranking, it seems.

MARIN CILIC: Yes.

Q. What's your point of view on this? Is it bad luck? Is it scheduling? Is it something that's changed? You have had the knee injury, but outside of this, you guys have been staying healthy. You're still here in your 30s. These kids I'm looking at, you're never going to make it into your 40s.

MARIN CILIC: I don't know. Navigating through the career is definitely not easy, and then you have to really be diligent and understand your body. Some guys tend to have more injuries than the others, and some guys just, their bodies are like that. So it comes down to being individuals.

But, you know, the tour is not going to change. You know, the tour is set for next 20, 30 years. So you have to adapt with that. If that means to skip some tournaments for some guys, that's obviously one way to go.

Looking at top players in the past that were there, they didn't play so much in a row. Now sort of these calendars sort of pushes you a little bit to play constantly.

You have to be mentally in, also with the body, and you have to sort of find a way how to manage it. The calendar completely shifted around.

So it's, I think, navigating on your own and then picking, you know, rest time and play time.