2017 Season Preview: ATP No. 6 Marin Cilic

Over the first 10 days of 2017, we're examining the Top 10 players on the ATP and WTA tours—how will they fare during the new season? All of the previews can be found here.

Like Kei Nishikori, Marin Cilic has followed in the late-blooming footsteps laid down by Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray. At 28, the Croat is coming off the best year of his career. In 2016, he finished a career-high No. 6 and won two titles, including his first Masters 1000 in Cincinnati. Unlike in 2014, when he won the U.S. Open and then quickly faded, Cilic was a force throughout the season, right down to its closing weekend when he led Croatia in the Davis Cup final. Along the way, Cilic recorded wins over Murray and Novak Djokovic, and nearly topped Roger Federer at Wimbledon.

Unlike Nishikori, while Cilic made progress in his weekly results, he took a step back at the Slams. He lost in the third round at the Australian Open, the first round at the French Open and the third round at the Olympics, and he was steamrolled by Jack Sock at the U.S. Open. Cilic played 22 tournaments in 2016, the second most in the Top 10; like most players who don’t consider themselves a threat to win majors, he didn’t try to peak for them. Cutting back on his schedule in 2017 would be a good sign, but it seems unlikely. Cilic has missed time to injury and a drug suspension, and probably feels like he needs to play as much as he can to make up for it.

That may be the wise move. Aside from his two weeks of glory at the Open in 2014, Cilic has never been a serious Slam threat. Despite being 6’5”, he’s not an ace machine or a natural aggressor. In other words, he probably doesn’t have the weapons to be the next late-blooming top-tier player, like Wawrinka. But there’s no shame in being first in the second tier.