Marin Cilic hungry to put a stop to Big Four dominance yet again

LONDON—Marin Cilic says that the dominance of the Big Four has helped the popularity of the game, but from his point of view he'd like them to win a little less.

The foursome of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, as well as Stan Wawrinka, has won a combined 51 Grand Slams since 2003.

Cilic has won one major, at the 2014 U.S. Open.

“Just definitely amazing, those four guys throughout these last 10, 12 years, and even more with Roger [who has won 18 Grand Slams]," Cilic said. "They showed how great players they are, and they raised the level of tennis in general. I think the popularity of the sport went really high, so that's just amazing.

“For my own sake, I hope this thing is gonna break—probably this year, hopefully.”

Cilic, ranked sixth, has reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon three times, but he has yet to go further on grass in London. In 2016 he beat Kei Nishikori in the fourth round, but in the quarters he went down against Federer.

Cilic has won 17 titles, but even he says there aren’t a lot of fans who think that he can actually win the event next week. But that's just fine with him.

“I’m quite happy with [the] position I'm in. Also with my own form,” Cilic said. “Obviously, players like Roger, Rafa, they had great success this year. And Novak and Andy, you cannot ever rule them out of Grand Slams. They are always having that little bit extra pressure or spotlight on them.

"So for me, it doesn't give me anything, but it just maybe releases that pressure if I would have that. But still, in my own self, I know that even under pressure I was still performing really well and playing quite good in those critical moments and situations. So definitely, big focus still for me is to continue to play well. I have to show my abilities on the court and to bring them every single match.”

Cilic will play against Roberto Bautista Agut in the fourth round on Monday.

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