Marin Cilic says he has no intention of retiring from the sport anytime soon after shedding some light on what he hopes to do in the future.
The 33-year-old is currently the third-oldest player in the ATP Pepperstone top 20 after Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal. Cilic made his Tour debut back in 2005 and since then has won 20 titles with his biggest triumph occurring at the 2014 US Open. Overall, he has won 577 matches and earned more than $31M in prize money.
Cilic’s love for tennis is something he hopes to continue beyond retirement as he sets sights on the possibility of going into coaching. Following in the footsteps of players such as Carlos Moya, Boric Becker, Juan Carlos Ferrero and John McEnroe.
“I love tennis, my wife is always laughing at me, cuz’ I also watch tennis on TV every day,” he told reporters at the Tel Aviv Open.
“I love competing and everything that comes with tennis. I’ll be involved in this game even after I retire. I’d also be more dedicated to my family, I have two boys now. But I will be in tennis, maybe coaching at an academy.’
“Hopefully, it won’t happen no earlier than 4-5 years from now.”
One player who has called time on his career is Roger Federer who played Cilic 11 times on the Tour, winning 10 of their encounters. Coincidentally Cilic’s only victory occurred during his run to his first Grand Slam title in New York. The Swiss maestro ended his career last Friday at the Laver Cup by playing in a doubles match alongside Nadal which they narrowly lost.
“It’s a sad moment for tennis, sad for all the fans around the world. Roger was such an icon, he carried tennis to incredible heights,” Cilic said in tribute.
“I felt nervous even watching his match, I wondered if it was gonna be more of an exhibition, but they held match-point. Would’ve been great if they could win, but still it was a very emotional moment. We’re gonna miss Roger so much.”
Cilic is the second seed at this week’s Tel Aviv Open which is the first ATP-level event taking place in Israel since 1996. He is yet to reach a tournament final so far this season.
In his opening match, he faces a tricky encounter against former world No.3 Dominic Thiem who is still on the road to recovery following a lengthy absence from the sport due to a wrist injury. He has never beaten the Austrian in his career.
“He had a tough time coming back,” Cilic said of Thiem. “The injury was a bad one. He won the US Open in 2020 and was in great form there. After he won that title, he dropped a little bit emotionally, and then the injury came. In tennis if you lose one year, it takes you at least one more year to come back and feel your game again. But he’s doing better and better now, which is good to see.”
This year’s Tel Aviv Open will be headlined by Djokovic who arrived in the country on Monday despite there being some concerns over his wrist. Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman is the only other top 20 player in the draw.
