Marin Cilic confirmed that his knee is doing well but decided to skip ‘s-Hertogenbosch after assessing that it would be better to give himself a bit more time before making his long-awaited comeback.
Cilic kicked off his 2023 season in the first week in Pune, where he won his opening match before giving a walkover in the round-of-16.
After withdrawing from the Australian Open, Cilic decided to surgically address his knee injury.
Cilic was scheduled to make his comeback in the opening week of the grass season in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
“Hey guys! Quick update: Even though my team and I made the difficult decision to skip @libemaopen next week, I am very close to a return to competitive tennis and eager to play tournaments. My knee has been responding well to a heavy load of training, but we assessed that some extra time will give me better preparation and assurance. The process is long but I am patient in order to be 100% ready,” Cilic tweeted.
My knee has been responding well to a heavy load of training, but we assessed that some
extra time will give me better preparation and assurance. The process is long but I am patient in order to be 100% ready. 💪💪 (2/2)— Marin Cilic (@cilic_marin) June 10, 2023
Cilic won’t be making his third ‘s-Hertogenbosch appearance this year
Cilic, 34, made his ‘s-Hertogenbosch debut in 2006.
Back then, Cilic won three qualifying matches to reach the ‘s-Hertogenbosch main draw.
After winning three qualifying matches, Cilic suffered a straight-set defeat to Tommy Robredo in the ‘s-Hertogenbosch first round.
11 years after his debut, Cilic returned to the grass courts of ‘s-Hertogenbosch for his second appearance.
In 2017, Cilic made the ‘s-Hertogenbosch semifinal before losing to fellow Croat Ivo Karlovic.
Meanwhile, Cilic is now targeting to return at the Queen’s Club.
On June 19th, an ATP 500 event at the Queen’s Club is kicking off.
Cilic, the 2018 Queen’s champion, is signed up to play.
For Cilic, his target is now certainly to come back at the Queen’s Club and then play at Wimbledon.
Grass has always been one of Cilic’s favorite surfaces so it shouldn’t be surprising that the Croatian picked the grass season for his comeback.