And so, ladies and gentlemen, we present to you, at the third time of asking, Marin Cilic, the Australian Open 2018 finalist.
The world No.6 (soon to be world No.3 thanks to him reaching the final), the former US Open champion and last year’s Wimbledon finalist is back on the one of the world’s biggest stages and yet again he walks on as the tall bloke no one really knows.
At 29, Cilic has been a part of the scene for more than a decade. He has won US$20million, he has collected 17 trophies (including that rather large and shiny one in Flushing Meadows) and he has been a part of the world’s top 10 for most of the past four years. And yet he is still part of that forgotten generation, the men who launched themselves on to the tour around the same time as Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray and were then swept aside as those three dominated the Grand Slam stages (along with the older Roger Federer) for the next decade.
Big Marin is also positive proof that nice guys can win. With a racquet in his hand he is huge, imposing and aggressive. With a cup of tea in his hand, he is the sort of fella you would love take home to your mum. No one has a bad word to say about him and the tournament staff all love him. He could not be nicer to the ball kids, volunteers and drivers and there is nothing he will not do to help out when asked.
The lovey people at Tennis Australia absolutely adore Marin. TA are involved in the Laver Cup and when Marin was late for a team announcement in New York last August, they got jittery. Where was he? When they called, he was stuck in a cab in traffic. Oh, no. But no worries: Marin volunteered to jump out of the cab and run the last few blocks to get to the announcement on time. He is just that sort of bloke.
Turning Mr Dependable and Mr Nice Guy into a champion took time. In the end, it was Goran Ivanisevic who managed it, convincing Cilic to tweak his massive serve to make it even more devastating and then to use it as launch pad for all-out attack. The theory was simple: you are a big strong man so use those strengths. And he did. And he won the US Open.
He was doing much the same in July last year as he marched towards the Wimbledon final. He knew he was playing well, he knew he was a massive threat to anyone on a grass court and then, as he headed for his appointment with Roger Federer he developed blisters on his left foot which became acute on the eve of the final.
What the medics did to get him ready to play does not bear thinking about. Suffice to say, his left foot was in a terrible state and there was not much anyone could do about it, no matter how hard they tried. Cilic, barely able to walk much less run, was sploshed in straight sets and he was in floods of tears mid-match.
But the nice guy is made of stern stuff. It took him a long time to develop into a world beater and having learned the art, he is not going to let it go to waste. A second Grand Slam final in seven months is no mean achievement and the way he has got to Sunday’s match shows not only talent but grit and guts.
It took four sets to settle into the tournament and beat Vasek Pospisil but then the likes of Joao Sousa and Ryan Harrison were dispatched in straight, if tight, sets. Pablo Carreno Busta took Cilic to another level – the tall Croat had to be aggressive but he also had to be patient. When he found that balance, he got the job done. By the time he faced Nadal in the quarterfinals, he was playing very, very well.
True, Nadal developed a gammy hip after three sets, but on the other side of the net Cilic was aggressive, he was focused and he was playing like a man possessed. He came back from a set down and took the fight to the former champion. Now playing at full throttle, he was too much for Kyle Edmund in the semifinal.
Now he stands one match away from the title. This time he is fit, this time he knows what to expect. It is time for Marin Cilic to announce himself as a serial champion.