Marin Cilic is a worthy representative of the Croatian tennis school

The Balkan peninsula has brought up many legendary athletes, tennis ball masters , number one among them is rightly considered Serb Novak Djokovic. In the sports history of Croatia, too, has its own legends - Wimbledon winner 2001 Goran Ivanisevic, the unfading thirty-seven-year-old Ivo Karlovich, whose record speed of the ball reached 251 km / h, Ivan Ljubicic. In 2005, a new star - Marin Cilic, today's leader of Croatian tennis.

Biography pages

Medjugorje, the birthplace of Marina, is the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, located near the border of Croatia. The village is known to the entire Christian world, because here in the XX century the Virgin Mary happened, and annually up to one million pilgrims rush. It did not suffer at all during the civil war of the 90s, which confirms its uniqueness. In 1988, in an ordinary family, where besides him there are three more brothers, Marin was born. Until age 13, he was engaged in tennis in his native town. The first person who believed in him was his father, Zdenko Cilic. Marin, tennis for which became the meaning of life, went on his patronage in Zagreb to Goran Ivanisevic.

Not yet finished his sports career, Goran saw a high-minded, purposeful guy talent and later instructed him to his former coach Bob Brett. Since then, life has inextricably linked two outstanding athletes, who since 2013 switched to a full-fledged cooperation coach and student. The talented Marine in 2005 became the ex-first racket among juniors, having won youthful "Roland Garros". And three years later he won the first ATP title, having declared himself in full voice.

Doping scandal

In addition to the injuries that the newcomer did not pass, Marin Cilic became the hero of the doping scandal in 2013. By this time, he only passed under the trainer's wing Ivanisevic and was disqualified for 9 months. According to his version, they bought glucose tablets in the pharmacy, which included banned niketamide, stimulating the nervous system. Many athletes, including Andy Murray, extremely negative about the use of illegal drugs, the decision of the tennis authorities seemed too soft. But even after the appeal was filed, it was reconsidered in favor of reducing the period of ineligibility to four months.

This time, Cilic used, training in the homeland of Ivanisevic, strengthening physical data and learning new elements of the game. Goran is the leader in the number of aces in one season (1477), which provided Marina with the strengthening of his main weapon - the supply. The season of 2014 he was preparing to meet in uniform.

Main victories

In the asset of the Croatian athlete - 14 wins in ATP tournaments (single rank), but the real triumph happened after returning to the big sport from the disqualification in 2014. Known literally on the court, meeting with eminent players, Marin Cilic lost confidence and lost in the decisive matches . Nine times he could play in the finals of serious tournaments, where there was always a bit of luck. In the US Open in 2014, he started from the 14th line of the rating, not being considered in the forecasts by the rival to the ageless Federer, who dominates the court of Djokovic and the ambitious Murray.

It was a special tournament of the BSH - in the finals, Cilic and Nishikori, who were not considered favorites, unexpectedly broke through, leaving top players behind them. In the decisive match Marin did not leave any chances to an athlete from Japan. While the US Open is the only tournament that has yielded to Marina, but he has already overcome the barrier of uncertainty to the leaders. On his account, victory over Nadal, Wawrinka, Federer. In 2015, the Balkans earned another title in Russia at the Kremlin Cup, having demonstrated a real master class for Russian athletes.

Ranking of tennis players: position of Cilicia

Currently, Marina pursues a knee injury, but in the rating of the ATP he occupies the eleventh line (2680 points), slightly inferior to Raonich (2740). The best position in the standings was in August 2015, when he confidently entered the TOP-10, taking 8th place. The most successful was the 2014th, when from the ninth position Marin Cilic, as the winner of the TBS, became a participant in the final tournament in London. Prior to him, such an honor was given to only one Croatian tennis player - Ivan Ljubicic, who finished his professional career several years ago. Marin is a worthy representative of the Croatian tennis school in the international arena.