Qualifying begins: 22 June
The Draw: 26 June
Pre-event Press Conferences: 27 & 28 June
Order of Play: 28 June
Championships begin: 29 June
COME BACK FOR LIVE SCORES & LIVE BLOG FROM 22 JUNE
This may be Marin Cilic’s ninth Wimbledon, but the 2015 incarnation of the Croatian No.1 is altogether different from the player seen here in previous years.
For in the 12 months since he was last seen on the lawns of SW19, he has joined that most exclusive and delightful of clubs, where membership is restricted to Grand Slam winners. Just seven such names start this year’s men’s draw, and thanks to his achievements at the US Open last autumn, Cilic is among those seven names.
Opening his Wimbledon campaign on No.3 Court, he put together a workmanlike win over the Japanese qualifier Hiroki Moriya. In many ways this one played out exactly as might be expected, given that Cilic is seeded No.9 and Moriya is ranked 174, with just one Tour-level career win to his name – which is to say that Moriya had nothing to lose and went for everything, stretching his opponent at times and even taking him to a tie-break in the third. But Cilic was never seriously threatened, and ultimately triumphed 6-3, 6-2, 7-6(4) in one hour and 52 minutes.
Did it take me long to get used to being a Grand Slam champion? No, just one evening
So how did it feel to walk back through the gates of the All England Club among the anointed ones? Cilic smiled modestly, and – with his tournament face on, no doubt – did his best to make it sound like it was all very normal.
“Pretty similar,” he grinned. “My mind is the same, I would say, as before. Very much focused from the early rounds. Did it take me long to get used to being a Grand Slam champion? No. Just one evening.”
Cool, very cool – unlike No.3 Court, which was sufficiently warm when his match got underway at 11.40 that some spectators shaded themselves with umbrellas (those in the back row only, you understand… they’re a considerate lot hereabouts). Umbrellas at Wimbledon are usually a bad sign, but this week has started warm and is only going to get warmer, and much the same may be expected of Cilic’s tennis.
Last year was his best Wimbledon to date – he reached the quarter-finals where he ran into Novak Djokovic, who edged past him in five sets and of course went on to win the title. A repeat of that match is possible this time. It looks especially intriguing given the wisdom Cilic has acquired which only Grand Slam winners possess, and perhaps the mental doubts Djokovic may have as a result of missing out on his career Grand Slam at Roland Garros courtesy of Stan Wawrinka.
But one match at a time. Moriya was dwarfed both literally (he is 5ft 5in to Cilic’s 6ft 6in) and in career achievement by his opponent, but he certainly relished his Wimbledon debut, having tried three times previously to qualify for the tournament proper without any joy. The four Japanese men in main draw here is the most in 42 years, and it seems to be something of a trend – at Roland Garros the five men in the main draw was the highest number since 1967.
Moriya got off to the worst possible start by going a break down, and while the first two sets may have felt to him as if they went by very fast, he got to grips with the task and made the third last almost as long as those two combined. But he simply couldn’t do enough damage to Cilic’s game to make it stick, producing far too few winners – 12 by comparison with 39 – to get a proper foothold.
On the other hand Cilic – along with his coach Goran Ivanisevic, watching at courtside – will have seen it as a useful workout. A shoulder injury wiped out early 2015 for him, but he played well at Roland Garros, before twice falling to Victor Troicki in the newly-elongated grass season at Stuttgart and Queen's.
“I am more confident since last autumn,” he conceded. “And the extra week on grass is better for me. More time on grass means better tennis even in the early rounds here. It’s very tough on grass to be super-confident because in a few moments you can have a bad slip-up and the tournament is over. So I’m confident but not taking it carelessly.”