Well, who’s going to work in the fields?

When my grandfather asked that of my father, who was 14, his fate was sealed: He was going to start his life in the tobacco fields. One of my father’s uncles, who was the director of a football club, had visited them in Medjugorje, a very small town in Bosnia-Herzegovina. He wanted to take my father to Croatia to pursue his education and let him play football, which was exciting, because he really loved playing the sport.

But my father had to stay home to support my grandparents in the fields and vineyards. My grandparents only knew how to make a living through difficult means, and they could not do it on their own. By the time my father had a vision beyond the fields — he eventually went into business — it was too late for him. Staying home early in life kept him from pursuing his childhood dreams. That was never going to be the path for me; my parents were determined that it was time to break that cycle.

Medjugorje has a population of less than 4,000, and it is known for Saint Mary appearances, not sporting success. The town’s first tennis court was built just a couple of years before I got into the sport, which became more popular with Goran Ivanisevic’s rise. My parents gave me a little push to get into tennis, especially because my uncle and cousin, who lived in Germany at the time, played. When I was seven, they visited our home, and that is when I started playing tennis. There were very few resources in the area, though, and the court I began on was uneven and in bad shape.

That is where my father’s love of construction came into play. He had never played tennis, only watched it on television. But while others in our area were building offices and spaces to rent out for corporations, he was instead imagining things my brothers and I could do with tennis. We had a massive backyard, and in 1996, when I was eight years old, my father decided to build a tennis court in it. My grandparents told my father that his idea was completely crazy. It really was insane.

^{Photo Credit: Marin Cilic Foundation}
But my father had a vision, and he wanted to give me the best opportunity to succeed in life. Before I knew it, big trucks started showing up to drop off clay. Underneath that was drainage, with sand and other materials. I still remember how we would need almost two hours to fully water the court during the summer because the water pipe connected to our garden hose wasn’t very big. We often spent more time watering the court than we did playing!

But I knew I was lucky just to have that court. Nobody from our area knew what it took to succeed in tennis. The few people who played did so for fun. Having the court was an opportunity in itself, as it fostered my love of tennis from the very beginning.

My family’s efforts made me quite responsible when I played. I took all my tasks very seriously. I was extremely diligent during practice and followed all instructions. I showed talent from a young age and practised with a coach in a nearby town 10 minutes away, but there were not many opportunities beyond that for me to grow as a player.

When I was 13, someone wrote an article about my dreams of making it to Wimbledon. But with the resources we had — as a family and as a town — it really was an impossible dream. There were not many players to practise with in Medjugorje besides my friend Ivan Dodig and his brother, Mladen. I had to make the biggest decision of my life when I was 14: stay home with my family and continue my education or move to Zagreb — the home of the Croatian federation’s training centre — to give myself the best chance of improving.

I knew it would be very tough to leave my family, which has always meant everything to me. But with their full support, I decided to make the move. There were quite a few difficult days. Luckily, Zagreb was close enough to home that I was able to visit home.

Every six to eight weeks, I jumped on the bus at 9 or 10 in the evening and arrived at 6 or 7 in the morning. I would sit there thinking about my dream of becoming a professional tennis player. It was quite unlikely, I have to say, but I was giving it my best shot.

I had to show up to every practice in Zagreb, and I never missed one. I took the opportunity very seriously and remained vigilant, even though it’s not so easy at that age, especially being away from home. I have to admit it was tough. No matter how great my Zagreb family was- I lived with my godfather and his wife- it was still a transition to a bigger city far away from the family and friends I grew up with. But I believe that part of the strength, extra calm and inner peace that I found came from my upbringing and my family’s support. I always had faith that God would guide me in the right direction.

I always try to think back to those beginnings, because sometimes we catch ourselves trying to look for more and more. I’ve found myself in situations when I wasn’t having fun on the court. When I first started playing, it was always for the joy of it. That is why through the highs and lows as a professional tennis player I remind myself to enjoy it.

^{Photo Credit: Marin Cilic Foundation}
At some point in your career, you start wondering if you’re ever going to win a big title or achieve your goals. But nothing is a given. Remember that newspaper article about my Wimbledon goals? My parents still have that at their home, and it’s a reminder of all the years of hard work it took to get this far. I reached my dream of playing at Wimbledon, played in the finals there and at the Australian Open, won the US Open, and have spent the better part of my life playing the game I fell in love with as a seven-year-old in my parent’s backyard.

It is incredible that I became a professional in the first place. I’ve fulfilled so many dreams I never thought I could make a reality, and I’ve long thought about how I could help others do the same. At first, I was not actually sure how. I always wanted to give back to the community and I always wanted to do more. But I knew it would be important to do so systematically.

I found the right recipe for that by reading Outliers: The Story Of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. The book is about what produces successful people, and Gladwell came to the conclusion that opportunity is what makes successful people successful, and I absolutely agree. If I didn’t have opportunities — if my parents didn’t build a tennis court in the backyard, if I never moved to Zagreb or if I did not meet one of my coaches at the right time — I probably would not have made it here.

^{Photo Credit: Marin Cilic Foundation}
That was the idea behind launching the Marin Cilic Foundation in 2016. We do everything in our power to help kids in need, whether through scholarships, motivational speeches or by providing proper guidance to point them in the right direction. There are many young talents throughout the world that come from developing areas or their families simply can’t support them. In the end that talent does not have the opportunity to shine. I hope for a world in which all children have an equal opportunity to reach their full potential.

We have two big ongoing projects at the foundation. One is building a playground in developing areas to support kids who do not have access to spaces for play, and the second is awarding scholarships to talented youth in sports, music, and STEM subjects. While I’ve been lucky enough to live my dream through sport, there are kids in many areas who struggle. Helping them gives me such positive feelings. When I am able to make them happy, I’m happy.

I know how these kids feel, because I was there. I remember sitting on that bus when I’d come home from Zagreb wondering if I would ever become a professional tennis player. I didn’t know what the future would bring and if my goals were possible. For all the kids asking the same questions today, I will do everything I can to help make their dreams a reality.

Learn more about the Marin Cilic Foundation

– as told to Andrew Eichenholz

Wesley Koolhof and Ena Shibahara’s perfect partnership now includes the first Grand Slam title of their respective careers. Teaming for the first time this fortnight in the Roland Garros mixed doubles competition, the Dutch-Japanese pairing improved to 5-0 as a duo with a 7-6(5), 6-2 victory over Joran Vliegen and Ulrikke Eikeri in Thursday’s final.

The second seeds also knocked out two men’s doubles semi-finalist on their way to the title, beating Jean-Julien Rojer (and Alexa Guarachi) in the first round and Matwe Middelkoop (and Demi Schuurs) in the second round.

“Ena, thanks for saying yes to my request,” Koolhof said during the trophy ceremony. “Loved playing with you. Hopefully we can play some more in the future. You’re doing an amazing job, so keep it up.”

🏆 First career Grand Slam title 🏆@EnaShibs and @wesleykoolhof defeat Eikeri/Vliegen 7-6(5), 6-2 to claim the mixed doubles trophy#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/R7q7ReE6gv

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 2, 2022

In a final contested by two teams making their debuts as duos, Koolhof and Shibahara broke serve first in both sets on Court Philippe Chatrier. But it was Vliegen and Eikeri who started strongest, creating three break points and holding to love before the first changeover.

Koolhof/Shibahara edged ahead with a break in the fourth game but could not serve out the set at 5-3. After Vliegen/Eikeri held twice at love to force a tie-break, the Belgian-Norwegian duo rode its momentum to a 5/2 tie-break lead. But the champions answered back by winning five straight points to pocket the opening set.

Set two was more straightforward, with Koolhof/Shibahara breaking in consecutive return games before the Japanese served out the match.

Koolhof’s title run continues a red-hot year for the 33-year-old. He formed a new partnership with Great Britain’s Neal Skupski this season, and the pair leads the ATP Tour in wins (35), finals (6) and titles (4) on the year. One of those four titles came at the Mutua Madrid Open in May, when Koolhof won his first ATP Masters 1000 title in his fifth final at that level.

The Dutchman ended the 2020 season at a career-high of No. 5 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings after reaching the US Open final and winning the Nitto ATP Finals title with Nikola Mektic. He is now ranked No. 11.

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Casper Ruud advanced to his first Grand Slam semi-final on Wednesday at Roland Garros. It is safe to say the Norwegian did not eat any tomato in the pre-match meal that helped fuel him across the line.

In this edition of ‘Food Court’, Ruud dishes on his favourite meal to cook, his guilty pleasures, why he does not eat tomatoes and more.

Let’s say you have to cook tonight, whether for yourself or for friends. What would you cook and why?
I would go for spaghetti vongole. It’s an Italian pasta dish with clams from the sea. I really like it and it’s not too difficult to make, actually. It sounds a bit fancy, but it’s not difficult at all.

How would you rate your cooking skills? Are you close to a Michelin star?
No, I’m not a Michelin star. I’m far, far away from it. Most days in my year I eat either in restaurants or takeout. [I go to] restaurants obviously when I’m out travelling and when I’m home I try to do some home-made meals, but mostly takeout as well.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
I like Asian food, Asian flavours. Japanese and Thai. I really like pad Thai. I always try to find it whenever I’m travelling around a place that has great pad Thai, which is a quite simple noodle dish. But sushi is also one of my favourites, but I also have to say Italian food is on the top there.

What do you eat right before a match and how many hours before the match do you eat it?
I always eat the same for lunch or dinner before a match. I eat a very simple, plain rice with chicken, some olive oil and salt. It seems like a smart thing to do, it’s quite easy and some good carbohydrates if I have to play a long [match]. It’s not too much flavor obviously, that’s why I add a little bit of salt. Salt is also good for sweating a lot, which I do. I think we found a good way to do it before matches.

I always try to eat around an hour and a half or two hours before the match so that the food has time to sink and I don’t feel heavy or too full when I go out on court. After matches I try to have some protein and some food right away, right after the match.

What do you snack on during a match? Has that changed over the years and if so, what did you used to eat?
I have some bars and some gels and maybe a banana here and there, but not typically. For best-of-five sets yes, I’d consider it more, but not too much I would say.

The thing is that I’m sweating a lot, so when you’re sweating and your body is hot or warm from sweating, you don’t really have the biggest appetite, so I find it quite hard to eat during [a match]. But some bars and some stuff is quite simple. It has changed. Everything has become increasingly more professional for me now than let’s say five years ago.

I’ve been quite good with those routines and I always try to eat healthy or as healthy as I can. Obviously on match days, I try to keep it very simple.

What might you eat during a non-tournament week that you wouldn’t during a tournament?
I think maybe I add a little bit more dessert when I’m not in tournament weeks, but I’m quite a simple guy when it comes to eating. Asian and Italian food is kind of where I spend most of my meals. Obviously sometimes I try to have some American food, especially [in the United States]. I’ll have some burgers or ribs. I always enjoy those things, but not too much. You could [feel] quite heavy from it before a match. 

What is something people might be surprised to hear you enjoy?

I really like mussels and clams, so that’s not something that I think everybody likes. But I’m quite picky at the same time. I don’t eat tomatoes. I don’t find them tasty at all. I know tomato is in a lot of dishes, so that’s a bit unfortunate, but I’m quite picky. I don’t really like mushrooms either. There are some things that I try to stay away from, but I would say mussels and clams are not typical in my family to like, but I do.

What is the best meal from your culture/country?
I would say that we have great salmon, which is kind of our pride. Our salmon is top notch, I think. We don’t have many typical dishes that are honestly too good, but the salmon we take good pride in.

Is there something about your diet that you might not have known as a junior that has really helped you?
I think I try to eat a little bit of green every day, either vegetables or salad. I actually feel it helps your body. It’s easy, but at the same time very important for the body. I didn’t like it too much when I was younger, but luckily I came to like it a little more as I’m getting older. My taste is getting more mature, so it’s easier for me now to eat green stuff.

What is your favourite place on Tour for food?
Favourite place for food? Ooh. We are always very well taken care of, we have many options. But I think one of the tournaments that does incredible lunch and dinner is Vienna, the ATP 500 event. There you find very good pasta, a good salad bar, good meat as well if you want to have that. They do a very, very good job and I always enjoy Austrian food with schnitzel and everything. I enjoy being there.

Casper Ruud held off a spirited challenge from #NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune Wednesday night at Roland Garros, extending his best Grand Slam run into the semi-finals. The 23-year-old Norwegian scored a 6-1, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3 victory in the first all-Scandinavian Roland Garros quarter-final — and the first major quarter-final overall for both men.

“These are the matches you dream about playing and hopefully of course even the final, if it’s possible,” Ruud said in an on-court interview, before looking ahead to his Friday semi-final against Marin Cilic. “I have to be really focussed and bring my ‘A’ game in the semi-final because Marin has played great all week and it’s going to be another tough match.”

Ruud started brightly and cruised ahead by a set and a break before his 19-year-old opponent clicked into gear, breaking twice in quick succession to level the match. The Norwegian again went ahead by a mid-set break in the third, but for the second straight set saw his advantage erased in the very next game.  

In the crucial tie-break, the veteran showed why he has won a Tour-leading 64 (now 65) clay-court matches since 2020. Ruud locked down from the baseline and controlled the rallies without overhitting, sealing the deal with his 17th winner of the set. He also had the answer for several Rune drop shots, outfoxing his opponent on a tactic the Dane had used to great success to that point.

The eighth seed continued to pressure Rune in the fourth and made his breakthrough on return in the eighth game — though the Norwegian had to battle through three deuces after his opponent erased a 0/40 deficit. He served out the match with ease, closing the door with his 55th winner. Ruud finished at a pristine plus-31 in the winners-to-errors count, committing just 24 unforced mistakes.

The first-time Slam semi-finalist improved to 4-0 in his ATP Head2Head series against Rune and will now look to make it 3-0 against Cilic in the semi-final. The 20th-seeded Croatian was a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(10-2) winner over Andrey Rublev earlier on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Ruud is the first Norwegian man to contest a Grand Slam singles quarter-final, an honour that seemed imminent following his form in recent years, particularly on clay. In addition to having the ATP Tour’s most clay wins since 2020, he’s also won eight tour-level titles in that span, including seven on clay.

If history is to repeat itself this fortnight, Ruud might have another trophy on the way. The winner of the last all-Scandinavian men’s quarter-final, semi-final or final at a major went on to win the title: At the 2002 Australian Open, when eventual champion Thomas Johansson defeated Jonas Bjorkman in an all-Swedish quarter-final.

“A big day for Norwegian tennis,” Ruud said in his post-match interview, “because we have also a female player — Ulrikke Eikeri — who made the final of mixed doubles today. She is even one step further than me. She will play for probably her biggest title of her life tomorrow so I wish her luck.”

Rune was seeking to become the youngest men’s Grand Slam semi-finalist since Rafael Nadal defeated Roger Federer on his 19th birthday in the 2005 Roland Garros semi-finals. The Dane was the lone unseeded quarter-finalist this fortnight.

Despite the loss, Rune’s quarter-final run — in just his third major appearance — lifted him 12 places to No. 28 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. He entered Paris at a career-high of No. 40 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after winning his maiden ATP Tour title in Munich on 1 May.

Both Rune and Ruud are former World No. 1 juniors. Rune, the 2019 Roland Garros boys’ singles champ, was hoping to join Ivan Lendl, Mats Wilander and Stan Wawrinka as the only men to sweep the men’s and boys’ titles in the Open Era.

Having charged to the quarter-finals at Roland Garros for the loss of just a set, Marin Cilic found a different way to win against Andrey Rublev in Paris on Wednesday afternoon.

The Croatian dug deep to seal a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(10-2) victory and reach the semi-finals at the clay-court Grand Slam for the first time. The 33-year-old is just the fifth active player to reach semi-finals of all four Grand Slams, alongside Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

Cilic’s thrilling victory elevates him to No. 17 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, six spots higher than where he began the tournament. The Croatian, a former World No. 3, was last ranked in the Top 20 in August 2019.

Although Cilic saw a match point opportunity slip away when Rublev was serving at 4-5, 30/40 in the fifth set, the 20th seed regained his composure to claim the final-set tie-break 10/2 in spectacular style as he stepped into court to strike a series of searing winners.

“It comes from being me,” said Cilic when asked about his aggressive approach to the tie-break in his on-court interview. “I played that kind of tennis the whole match, and especially the fifth set was an incredible battle. Andrey played incredibly well, and it was an incredible fair-play performance on the court.

“A lot of heart, and one had to go down. Today was my day, but Andrey also played an incredible match.”

Despite dropping a tight first set to one of the biggest ball-strikers on the ATP Tour, it was Cilic whose power-hitting came good as he manoeuvred Rublev around Court Philippe Chatrier to great effect. The Croatian fired 88 winners including 33 aces on the way to a four-hour, 10-minute victory.

“Andrey plays a difficult game,” said Cilic. “Serves big, hits big. You don’t have many chances and you have to keep up with your level and I did that. Unfortunately, I lost that fourth set. I felt I was close to get the break maybe, but Andrey played really well and when you play this long it’s always going to be a little bit up and down during the match.”

The win backs up Cilic’s stunning quarter-final victory over World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev. The Croatian’s opponent in the last four will be the winner of Wednesday’s night session quarter-final between Casper Ruud and Holger Rune.

Rublev made the early running on Court Philippe Chatrier, carving out three break points in the seventh game and two in the ninth. Cilic gave the seventh seed no chance to convert as he consistently found huge serves at key moments, but Rublev continued to hit aggressively with his return and the pressure told. Rublev broke for 6-5 and made no mistake behind serve to win his first set in five Grand Slam quarter-final appearances.

Despite the early setback, the Cilic serve continued to fire and an early break was enough to earn the Croatian the second set. The 20th seed frequently found acute angles with his groundstrokes to keep Rublev on the move, and Cilic clinched another crucial solitary break for 4-3 in the third after targeting the Rublev second serve.

Although he frequently struggled to find his free-flowing best, the composed Rublev stuck with Cilic and took his chance to break in the eighth game of the fourth set and force a decider. A tight fifth set saw few chances until Cilic missed a forehand into the net on match point at 5-4, but the Croatian made no mistake in the tie-break.

Cilic arrived at Roland Garros with a 4-4 match record for the European clay-court season, but the 2014 US Open champion has excelled in Paris, defeating Attila Balazs, Marton Fucsovics, Gilles Simon, Medvedev and Rublev to charge to the last four.