Čilić is enjoying his time in Korčula.
There have been many great tennis players who have spent their summers in Korčula, starting from Željko Franulović, whose family roots are on Korčula, Nikola Pilić, Mario Ančić, Ivan Ljubičić, Novak Đoković and the always original Goran Ivanišević, as well as many other Croatian and international tennis stars. However, Čilić is the first among them who actually played tennis in Korčula, reports Marko Polo Sport on July 20, 2018.
The great Marin Čilić, the winner of the US Open in 2014, a finalist of this year’s Australian Open and last year’s Wimbledon, a player with dozens of finals and ATP titles, has chosen Korčula for the summer vacation with his wife Kristina. And it is a working vacation,” since he is often seen with a racket on a tennis court.
We met him on the new green tennis courts at the Port 9 Hotel, albeit not on natural grass like the one at the All England Club, but on artificial grass. Still, Marin did not seem to mind. “This is my first visit to Korčula and we really enjoy every moment. I am resting between playing two Grand Slams, Wimbledon and the upcoming US Open, ahead of tournaments which precede the US Open, ATP 1000s in Toronto and Cincinnati,” said Marin, adding that Korčula was an ideal location to “refill his batteries” for everything which awaits him in the rest of the long tennis season.
Čilić was glad to hear that he, until recently the third best player in the world and currently the seventh player in the ATP rankings, was actually the first of the Top 10 players who played tennis on a court in Korčula. “I am glad to hear it! Let this then be my small contribution and an incentive for the development of tennis in Korčula, a well-known sports town, and island. Let tennis become even more popular.” Marin was accompanied by his extremely pleasant wife Kristina.
We concluded the short interview with a sincere wish to Čilić from all of us who love tennis, sports in general and this beautiful town and island. “Continue with the victories and return once more to Korčula.”
Translated from Marko Polo Sport (reported by Nenad Kosović).
