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Fighting it out on the court

Kunal Diwan

Cilic has only good things to say about the Chennai Open
I hope this win inspires kids: Devvarman

CHENNAI: The volatile politics of the Balkan States was played out in a much more acceptable and controlled setting on Friday at the SDAT Stadium in Chennai, when Croat Marin Cilic took on Serb Janko Tipsarevic in a quarterfinal match-up.

“It was nice playing in the evening with a small fight going on in the aisles. Some guys were rooting for Janko while some were cheering for me,” said the World No. 27 Cilic at a press conference after he had come through the encounter in three sets.

Favourite surface

A semifinalist at last year’s Chennai Open, Cilic also said the transition from playing Challengers to ATP events and Grand Slams was “rapid but not easy” and that grass was his favourite surface.

“Though I won the junior French Open on clay, I prefer faster surfaces. I am tall and my game is not based on movement, so I depend a lot on my serve,” he said.

The 20-year-old’s dependency on serve didn’t come as a surprise, especially when one took stock of the number of ace merchants to have arisen from his part of the world. And while he may not subscribe to Goran Ivanisevic’s machine gun approach on court, Cilic said the former Croatian superstar was a “big inspiration”.

“Goran was a really big influence when I was around 15 and he was finishing his career. His Wimbledon win was a major event for all of us. Hanging around with Goran taught me stuff that would have taken me a few years to learn by my own on tour.”

Player focus

Cilic also said that the changes on the ATP Tour, that would limit the number of tournaments that top players participated in, would go a long way in increasing player focus.

“This would allow one to concentrate on just a few important tournaments to maintain or improve one’s ranking,” he said.

Great prospect

A great young prospect on the world stage, Cilic only had good things to say about the Chennai Open.

“It is great to play here and the tournament is organised very well. There is not a single grouse that I have against playing in this city.”

This much can be inferred from such word perfect praise: Marin Cilic is bound to be a certainty in the playing field here for quite some years to come.

Meanwhile, another Croat — giant Ivo Karlovic — did not fare as well, going down in straight sets to India’s Somdev Devvarman in another quarterfinal encounter.

Sullen and forlorn at the post match conference, Karlovic said: “This was one of my worst days on a tennis court. I tried everything but nothing worked today.”

A radically opposite bearing was adopted by Devvarman who arrived for the media interaction accompanied by an army of young fans.

Fabulous moment

“This is just a fabulous moment and I want to enjoy it. I have worked really really hard for this and when something like this happens, it’s really special. ”

“I hope this win inspires kids who play the game in India. It’s a humbling feeling to see kids look up to you, especially since I’ve grown up in this city,” he said.

Asked if he was developing a habit of taking out the big players, he said: “Well, whatever comes in my way… but Schuettler (his semifinal opponent) is a good player and I will have to give it my best shot.”

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