Marin Cilic – Standard Tennis 3.0 strokes

Marin Cilic (*88 / CRO) had a very strong second half of 2016 when he reached his career high of ATP #6. But he has shown one of his best ever performance in the late summer of 2014 already when he has captured the 2014 US.Open crown, his only Grand Slam title so far. In his final 3 matches there, he was practically unbeatable. Tall Marin is surely taking a significant advantage from his 198cm (6’6”) body size, but also his groundstroke technique is of a high quality and well fulfilling the TENNIS 3.0 benchmark. Regarding service, forehand and backhand, Marin Cilic can actually serve as a certain standard prototype for the TENNIS 3.0 style of stroke production, where body energy dominates the stroke dynamics as well as racket position in space and where elbow reaches longest possible distance from the center of gravity during and after the impact.

The below-presented photos from a practice during 2014 US.Open show how well Marin’s strokes fulfill the TENNIS 3.0 benchmark requirements.

Marin Cilic (*88 / CRO) – 1st Service 3.0 in a practice – 1 of 3 – toss / backswing – eyes look up early – 2014 US.Open – NYC

Marin Cilic (*88 / CRO) – 1st Service 3.0 in a practice – 2 of 3 – cocking with high elbow position and perfect eye control – 2014 US.Open – NYC

Marin Cilic (*88 / CRO) – 1st Service 3.0 in a practice – 3 of 3 – end of follow through 1 = targeted pronation – high elbow, palm points to the outside, eyes are still looking up – 2014 US.Open – NYC

Slow motion of the 1st Service 3.0 – ace in a practice set against David Goffin (BEL) just before the start of 2016 US.Open. The high elbow position and targeted pronation in the first portion of the follow-through are the main keys to success.

Marin Cilic (*88 / CRO) – Forehand 3.0 in a practice – 1 of 2 – impact far away from the body and with perfect eye control of the impact zone – 2014 US.Open – NYC

Marin Cilic (*88 / CRO) – Forehand 3.0 in a practice – 2 of 2 – follow through with elbow flying far away from the center of gravity towards the target and consciously pursued targeted pronation – body action is “running the show” – 2014 US.Open – NYC

Marin Cilic (*88 / CRO) – Two-handed Backhand 3.0 in a practice – 1 of 2 – impact far in front of the body, perfect eye control – 2014 US.Open – NYC

Marin Cilic (*88 / CRO) – Two-handed Backhand 3.0 in a practice – 2 of 2 – follow through with elbow flying far away from the body and clear pronation of the non-dominant (left) arm making body energy dominance of the stroke possible. Needless to say, the closed position of the foot is great for stability, but rather a risk factor for the left knee and lower back – 2014 US.Open – NYC

This article is not a complete stroke analysis and while showing the fulfillment of the TENNIS 3.o benchmark, it doesn’t discuss all details of the TENNIS 3.0 parameters as well as TENNIS 3.0 CODE. More information in this regard, as well as more photo and video documentation, are available upon request at drmgb11(at)gmail.com

Photos (August 2014) & video (August 2016) & text (February 2017) copyright by Dr. Martin G. Baroch