ATP Tour

Marin Cilic on evolution of tennis: 'I think it came out of nowhere'

Marin Cilic made a resounding start to his 2026 Australian Open Monday when he ousted Daniel Altmaier 6-0, 6-0, 7-6(3). Now 37 years old and No. 70 in the PIF ATP Rankings, the Croatian showed he is still plenty capable of producing lights-out tennis at an event where he reached the final in 2018.

When conducting his post-match media, Cilic shook hands with Denis Shapovalov, who even joked that 2019 or 2016 Marin Cilic was back. The former World No. 3 quipped it was 2014 Marin, the year he won the US Open. 

ATPTour.com caught up with Cilic about his game, traveling with family, the evolution of the sport and more.

Today you won the first two sets without losing a game. When you're playing well, it's very clear that your tennis is still right up there, so when you feel yourself playing like that, what goes through your mind?
For me, that level comes from the sensation in training. I see where I'm at, I see physically how well I was training in the whole 2025, especially in the offseason. I'm also obviously looking at what the other guys are doing, what their routines are, how I compare to them physically.

Obviously, my body is not the same as when I was 26 or 27. But still, I feel that I'm on a great level and it gives me great satisfaction that I'm still able to produce great tennis. That gives us and my team that feeling of excitement.

Your family is here in Melbourne, including your two sons, so now they've been to all four Grand Slam tournaments. To what extent are you still pushing so they get to experience all of this with you?
I am pushing myself first of all, because I have big support from the family. On the other side, they're able to travel, so that balance makes it easier. If they were at home, not traveling, and I am on the road, it doesn't work because it would break apart really, really quickly. I would miss home, they would miss me; it just doesn't work because the boys are already now six and four, it would be too much.

On the other side, they enjoy traveling, and I also feel that I have a really good position with my body, with my game. I think I can challenge myself in this season to see how far I can go. I added another team member to my team, Mate Delic, who was working with Borna Coric for a few years and also with Borna Gojo, so he's very knowledgeable. He was also a great player, we are really good friends. I'm also seeing that as another motivation to do better and to do well in this season.

Guys like Roger Federer, who you competed against, have been around Melbourne Park and you're still out there competing at such a high level. How rewarding is that for you?
It's beautiful because I still enjoy what I do. And then, obviously it's a reward because when I started young — when I was 15, 16 — I started with a really great work ethic, discipline, being professional, always having a full team with me, taking care of my body. I was planning the scheduling, planning the rest, peaking with the training. And when you add all these things for five, 10, 15 years, the body has rewarded me for another couple great seasons. I'm enjoying the fruits of that, so it's just fantastic.

How interesting is it for you to see how the game has changed from when you started with Roger and Rafa and how guys like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are playing?
It's interesting how the game changed and I think it came out of nowhere, without sort of any influence from anybody. I think it came as well because of the Covid time…. If you would go and speak to Top 100 or Top 200 players on the Tour, the average racquet weight is, let's say, 305, 310 grams. And that was just impossible to see during the 2000s or 2010s in the past 10 or 20 years. Most of the guys were playing with the racquets which were 330, 340, 345 grams.

My own racquet, I would say is one of the heaviest on the Tour. And so this changed and the game then changed into power and speed. Everyone is athletically incredible. Everyone can hit the ball big, but it shifted a little bit of the game into this direction of ‘Who's going to hit bigger and harder? Who's going to be athletically incredible?’ And then it took away a little bit of the intricacies of the game, playing cat and mouse, just different styles of the game, which we had in these past 15 to 20 years.

Do you just focus on what you do, or do you craft your game again to evolve a little bit, to face these opponents?
You try to adapt, because obviously, the times have changed, and if you are waiting for the change to go back, you are in the wrong position. You have to adapt to what's going on, and adapt to what your needs are. It definitely has changed and so you have to really follow what is going on and try to do the best you can.

Some people might say they would love to play Roger or someone else in a match. You have played all of these guys from your time on Tour… If you could play one match, which opponent would be most intriguing to you?
There are a few incredible champions that shaped tennis when you look at back [at] the start of tennis [like] Rod Laver, how much he has achieved and how many Grand Slams he won at that time. He wasn't playing for six years [in them] because he was considered as a professional, and he definitely shaped the game.

Then Borg, McEnroe, Connors, guys that played after to the '90s [with] Sampras, Agassi, and all these guys. It would be just incredible to go back in time and play some with Borg or even Mats Wilander or Rod Laver.