Marin Cilic has spoken about returning to the ATP Tour after an extended period with an injury despite some questioning if it was the right move.
Two years ago, Cilic played great tennis during the 2022 season. That included the Croatian's unexpected run to the French Open semifinal, which included a quarterfinal triumph against Andrey Rublev.
Shortly after, Cilic sustained a severe knee injury. He made some failed comeback attempts during the next two years, and it seemed like the 2014 US Open champion's career might end.
The 36-year-old had a second knee surgery in May of this year, which changed everything for Cilic. It allowed him to compete more freely, and he made a successful comeback that brought him glory.
Cilic became the lowest-ranked ATP Tour champion ever at the Hangzhou Open in September. That triumph also led to him jumping an extraordinary 565 places in the ATP rankings.
In an interview with Tennis Majors, Cilic admitted some wondered why he was putting himself through so much strain to try and return, but he felt retiring after playing so well in 2022 until the injury would not have felt right.
"A lot of people have asked me why the hell I was going through this after all I already had done in my career! But I had a great bounce back in 2022, played the semis at the French, had a great US Open (lost in the fourth round in five sets against Carlos Alcaraz), also Australian Open (lost in the fourth round against Felix Auger-Aliassime)."
"I felt this was a great season and then, bang, I got injured. So I thought that stopping now wouldn’t be true to me. During my whole career, I’ve been really professional and disciplined. I’ve always trained, planned things well, and never played too many tournaments to keep the best possible physical shape."
"So wondering if I should stop now just because I have to do the surgery? I wanted to come back, and luckily, my family situation was great. My boys are still small; they’re four – almost five – and three, so I felt good motivation and support from them, from my wife."
Cilic remembered the challenges he faced after his first knee surgery. The Croat admits it was a tough mental challenge for him to overcome.
"I did the first surgery, I did the rehab, but then the knee started to swell. I wasn’t sure if it was normal or not, if it was adjusting to the conditions or the load, and then I tried to play in Umag even with a bit of swelling in my knee because I thought maybe that was the new normal."
"But after playing one match, the knee was really in bad shape. We were six months after the surgery so, what to do now? It was a little bit of a rollercoaster, also mentally. It was also the unknown: you are left ‘on promenade’, as we say in Croatia. What to decide?”
Luckily, the second surgery improved Cilic's knee from 90% to 100%, which allowed him to have that stunning run to the Hangzhou Open title.
"I was at maybe 90% and had to find a way to play with that. I decided in March to do the surgery because I couldn’t go like that anymore. Whatever happens, happens. If it was going to take me another twelve months of rehab, I was going to do it."
"I decided to go to the US for that second surgery, and luckily I made that decision because since that second surgery, the knee has been feeling back to normal. It reacted incredibly well, and I took enough time to get some preparation, get in shape, and start slowly.”
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