It's been a solid season for Cilic who is one of the players with at least two ATP trophies to his name in 2021. The Croatian won the St. Petersburg Open yesterday and that trophy was the 20th of his career but the Croatian is determined not to stop there. Reflecting on his week in Russia he said:
"During the whole week, I think my level was really good. I felt that I can still get my game to a better level, and it was a little bit similar today. I was playing great on some occasions, missing some opportunities, serving for the first set, not making that first set more comfortable. As things went on, obviously Taylor started to play better. But in the end, [it was] a great mental battle from my side."
During the trophy ceeremony Cilic touched upon winning the event 10 years apart saying:
"Coming 10 years after winning in 2011 and also winning now, it's so, so special for me, especially this part of my career. Having now a family, two sons, I want to absolutely dedicate this trophy to my newborn son."
On his plans going forward Cilic explained that he will use this as motivation to keep pushing forward:
"My plans are to keep pushing myself, to keep training hard to give myself an opportunity to again win great tournaments and to play amazing tennis, to be winning against guys who are at the top. That’s obviously my goal. Who knows where it will take me, but for me, it’s a great start, these two tournaments in Russia. It obviously helps so much for my confidence end of the season playing this well."