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Pretty much nothing.
ADHEREL
The Brit is on top of the world (almost) at the No. 2 rank behind the struggling Novak Djokovic, who lost first round at the Rio Olympics and is suffering both physically and mentally.
Murray came directly to Cincy from winning a second consecutive gold medal at the Rio Olympics. Djokovic pulled from Cincy citing a left wrist injury. Can the US Open then the subsequent months before the end of the season be enough ground for Murray to challenge for No. 1?
Cilic, on the other hand, has also thrown himself into the mix as an outside contender for a second US Open win. In the Sunday final he turned around from a late-night semifinal win to out-hit Murray approximately 14 hours later 6-4, 7-5 for this first Masters-level title.
“I thought I was going to have a good chance if I played well,” said Cilic, who finished his semifinal against Grigor Dimitrov after 1:30 a.m. Sunday. “I didn’t feel too tired yesterday in the evening. It was obviously very difficult mentally. It was very humid on the court. We were sweating a lot, so a lot of up and downs, especially in the third set. I had to work out the positive and negative emotions and that took a bit of energy.
“I went to sleep around 4 a.m. and woke up a little bit before 11 a.m.. That was enough to recover.”
The loss for Murray snapped an amazing 22-match win streak but his streak in tournament finals is now at seven.
“Really after Miami, the last four, five months have been — it’s not even close to anything else I had done before,” Murray said. “It was way, way better. Seven finals in a row, you know. Won obviously Wimbledon again, the Olympics. I still feel like there are some things I can improve upon. Yeah, it’s been really good.”
After his first career Masters title (in his 71st attempt) and 15th overall, Cilic will return to the Top 10 when the ATP Monday rankings are released.
“I felt that this week I played really great tennis,” Cilic said. “That’s obviously a big sign for me for moving forward. Obviously this is the best week that I’ve played since 2014 US Open. Even last year I was having some good tournaments but searching still for my game.”
Cilic, 27, also becomes the youngest player on tour at the moment to have a Masters title.
“It’s nice to feel young at 27, almost 28, so it’s great definitely,” Cilic added. “Obviously the game in last ten years is — the age of the guys is getting further and further.”
Murray will get a week’s rest before New York, with few regrets over the summer.
“I’m very proud of this week,” Murray said. “Obviously today it didn’t go how I would’ve wanted. But I certainly didn’t expect to get to the final when I arrived here. I had some pretty good wins along the way. Today there were tough, tricky conditions with the wind…But it’s a very, very positive week. I’m looking forward to a few days’ rest now.”
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