Marin Cilic continues to impress in the twilight of his career, over 20 years since he made his ATP Tour debut.
The Croatian is still comfortably inside the top 100 of the rankings and he’s reached yet another ATP semi-final at the Dallas Open.
Cilic continues to break ATP records and he shows no signs of retirement, despite contemporaries such as Stan Wawrinka and Milos Raonic announcing their farewell from the game.
The Grand Slam winner might still be going strong in tennis, but he’s reflected on his best-ever performances throughout his career.
Marin Cilic highlights Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal matches as his best performances
When asked about his best performances in his two decade career, Cilic picked two matches against Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
“I have to say, playing Roger in the semis of the US Open was an unreal level. Also, Rafa at the Australian Open. A few of those matches were just something at the top.”
The US Open semi-final was the only time Cilic managed to defeat Federer, but he made it count by lifting the only Grand Slam of his career at Flushing Meadows.
The Croatian followed up his sole win against Federer to defeat Kei Nishikori in straight sets to mark his best-ever tournament victory.
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Similarly, Cilic’s victory against Nadal in the Australian Open quarter-final was just the second time he managed to beat the Spaniard.
The match went the distance and Nadal disappointedly had to retire in the decider, but Cilic was still delighted with his display.
“I would say that was one of the best connections I had in terms of both my skills, playing on the court, feeling the ball, feeling the conditions.
“And just also playing by instinct, being free, playing by the instinct and everything is flowing beautifully. That was just pure — just absolutely pure, pure tennis.”
Cilic reached the final of the Australian Open in 2018 after defeating Nadal en route in Melbourne, but he once again lost to Federer in five sets.
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Cilic currently sits at World No. 52 following his performances at the Dallas Open, but there’s no reason why he can’t continue to soar up the rankings.
The Croatian’s only strong performance in the first part of last year was a quarter-final appearance at the Dubai Tennis Championships.
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That means Cilic has very little ranking points to defend, so he will likely collect more points than the rivals around him.
Last year, Cilic lost in the first round of the Madrid Open and the Qatar Open, and his resurgence didn’t kick off until his round of 16 appearance at Wimbledon.
At 37 years of age, there is every chance the Croatian could be about to enter the top 30 of the rankings yet again.
