Cilic and Ivanisevic

[gzhpcu]

I remember once Ivanisevic being asked about his serve, and replying, "The serve? I toss the ball up and hit it...".

He passed this on to Marin:

"One of the biggest pieces of advice Goran gave me this tournament was to not think too much," he later told Britain's Sky Sports. "Toss the ball, hit it, play your game, be aggressive. Try to be relaxed."

[klacr]

Cilic was serving better than he ever has. For a 6'6" guy his serve was always a question mark, which it should never be when you are that tall. Credit to Goran for making that change. Goran was predictably unpredictable as a player and unpredictably predictable as a coach...get a player and turn his serve into an absolute weapon, make him keep a simple game plan that he doesn't have to think too much on. Just execute baby!

What gets lost in most of this unfortunately is the impact the great Australian Coach Bob Brett had on Cilic's game during his more formative years. No doubt Coach Brett taught him well and gave him a championship foundation on which he could build and improve. Credit to Bob Brett for laying some groundwork.

On another note, with his win on Monday, Cilic becomes just the second tennis player in history with a palindromic name to win a grand slam title. The first? Monica Seles. Now how cool is that?

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[stotty]

Something that went unnoticed with Goran was his work rate. I saw him practice under Brett's guidance, and I can tell you Goran worked like stink. The practice session lasted only around 35 minutes long, but Goran was focused and worked like a trojan throughout. He was dripping wet when he left the court

We tend to associate Goran as being a bit of a nut, which he is, but he had many great qualities. It's easy to see how he became such a good player once you saw him practice. That's the part the public often don't see...what goes in to being a really good player.

[GeoffWilliams]

On another note, with his win on Monday, Cilic becomes just the second tennis player in history with a palindromic name to win a grand slam title. The first? Monica Seles. Now how cool is that?

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

Palindromic? Now that's a word most of us have not seen. Reverseadromic.

[klacr]

Something that went unnoticed with Goran was his work rate. I saw him practice under Brett's guidance, and I can tell you Goran worked like stink. The practice session lasted only around 35 minutes long, but Goran was focused and worked like a trojan throughout. He was dripping wet when he left the court

We tend to associate Goran as being a bit of a nut, which he is, but he had many great qualities. It's easy to see how he became such a good player once you saw him practice. That's the part the public often don't see...what goes in to being a really good player.

You work your tail off for 20 years, blood, sweat, tears. Once you hit it big and become known, people say you are an overnight success.

Success is like an iceberg. People see only see the success, which is only 10% of the iceberg. What they don't see and what really happens is the 90%, which is comprised of risks, focus,goals,persistence, failure (multiple times), massive action, sacrifice, habits, hard work.

Kyle LaCroix USPTA
Boca Raton

[GeoffWilliams]

It's one tenth of a percent. The difference between a world class player and grand slam champion.