Marin Cilic recalls foot pain during 2017 Wimbledon loss to Roger Federer
In an interview to L'Equipe, the world No. 7 Marin Cilic recalled his 2017 Wimbledon final straight sets loss to Roger Federer. The Swiss prevailed 6-3 6-4 6-1 to win his eighth Wimbledon title and 19th Grand Slam overall. Cilic was dealing with a severe foot injury. 'I realized I could not win five minutes before heading into the court', explained the 30-year-old, who also cried when he took a medical time out at the end of the first set. 'The doctor tried to help me with needles to get the liquid out, but there was blood and every time I put my feet on the ground, I was hurting. Before my warm-up in the morning, two or three hours before the final, the doctor gave me the lidocaine (local anaesthetic) to calm down the pain, without success. We did it again 15 minutes before the match, but it was not helpful. As soon as Roger felt that I did not move as I usually do, he changed his game style. Retiring in mid-final was not possible. I tried until the end.'
Cilic also recalled the 2016 semifinals win over France. He won all the three matches he played over the three days. 'One of my best tennis weekends. Borna dealt with a knee injury, I had to win my two singles and the doubles. I did it. Unfortunately, we lost the final (against Argentina in Zagreb). A very difficult loss to digest. My regret is to have led two sets to love against Juan Martin del Potro and I dropped the rhythm while he was a little bit tired. We have a new opportunity this year. France will be very motivated, it will be an unbelievable weekend.'
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from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2Kw7tUt
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