Marin Cilic praised Juan Martin del Potro on Thursday, but was disappointed that he couldn’t reach the Roland Garros semi-finals for the first time.
“Out of past five Grand Slams, I [have] made the quarter-finals or better in four of them, so that's quite pleasing,” said Cilic, after his four-set loss to Del Potro in Paris.
“I felt that today I could have won this match, as well. It's always very bitter at the end of the match to know you have chances and then you lose that one. I know that Juan is a great player, [a] very great quality player, but still, it's a pity to lose like this.”
[ALSO LIKE]The Croatian, who is currently in fifth position in the ATP Race To London for a spot at the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals, to be held at The O2 in London, is next scheduled to compete at the Fever-Tree Championships.
“That's the focus for the moment, take it week-by-week, day-by-day [and] get into form,” said Cilic. "Obviously the grass-court season is short, and I want to be in good form with that.“I'm glad that the knee injury is behind me. I'm feeling physically well. I played good tennis here and played several matches.”
The 29-year-old Cilic, who reached the Australian Open final (l. to Federer) in January, is now 22-9 on the 2018 season. He beat James Duckworth, Hubert Hurkacz, Steve Johnson and No. 18 seed Fabio Fognini en route to his second straight Roland Garros quarter-final.