TennisWimbledon men

'I feel bitter’ - Why Marin Cilic was left unhappy at disappointing loss against Flavio Cobolli at Wimbledon

Marin Cilic admitted he was "bitter" about the start time of his fourth-round defeat to Italian Flavio Cobolli at Wimbledon, in the only singles match to be played at 11am on Monday. Cilic, who arrived at SW19 for the first time since 2021, was forced to warm up indoors as the practice courts do not open until 9:30am. The Croatian lost in four sets to Cobolli, who will now face Novak Djokovic.

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Marin Cilic admitted he was ‘bitter’ about starting his Wimbledon clash with Flavio Cobolli so early after he was defeated in the fourth round.
Cilic began his match on No. 2 Court at 11am on Monday, in the only singles match to be played before 1pm that day.
The former World No. 3 had to begin his warm-up indoors as the practice courts do not open until 9:30am, while he was also unhappy about the sogginess of the court after heavy rain on Sunday night.
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The 36-year-old lost 6-4 6-4 6-7(4) 7-6(3) in a gripping encounter with Italian 22nd seed Cobolli, who advances to the quarter-finals of a major for the first time, and will face Novak Djokovic on Wednesday.
Cilic, who was also defeated by Cobolli at Roland-Garros in May, questioned the need to start the match so early, in conditions he called a ‘struggle’.
He said: "I don't like to speak about the conditions. Okay, I lost and everything. I have to accept it, but I feel bitter because why is there a need to play at 11?
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"It's raining overnight, and the court was quite soft, it was really difficult to play on.
"You just push the ball in the middle of the court, and the ball just stays super low. It was just a struggle."
The Croatian stunned British No. 4 seed Jack Draper in the second round last week and advanced to the last 16 when beating Spain’s Jaume Munar in four sets.
Cilic rolled back the years with a sensational return to SW19, after missing the last three editions of Wimbledon with injury, having had two knee surgeries.
It was the first time he advanced to the fourth round since reaching the final in 2017, where he lost in straight sets to eight-time winner Roger Federer.
With that return to his old form, the 2014 US Open winner found the positives in his Wimbledon fortnight, despite the defeat.
"I have great encouragement, happiness, positive attitude and positive outcomes out of the tournament," he added. "I found great form, played some fantastic tennis. Even today was quite close."
Cobolli said of advancing to his first Grand Slam quarter-final and a meet-up with another veteran in Djokovic: "I always dreamed to be here, to play this tournament.
"You cannot imagine my emotion right now because I started to play tennis because of these kinds of matches at this kind of tournament and now I am very proud of myself and very proud of my team.
"I have all my family here, so it is very special, my dad is crying right now and my brother.
"I have also my big friends here, so it is a moment that I cannot forget and I am very happy and looking to the quarter-final.
"I hope to play on a big court this time because I have never played there and I think now I deserve it."
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