Tennis Odds: World No. 9 Marin Cilic leads the field for the PBZ Croatian Indoors that begins on Monday, February 2nd. Cilic did not play in the Australian Open due to a shoulder injury but he is expected to be ready for this event. It takes place in his home country of Croatia and it is a tournament he has dominated, winning four times. Let’s look at the event and the field.
Marin Cilic
Cilic is the reigning U.S. Open champion and has had a lot of success in the Croatian Indoors, winning it four times including each of the past two years. Cilic has never won a tournament three straight times in his career. His coach Goran Ivanisevic did pull off the feat, winning the Croatian Indoors each year from 1996 to 1998.
“This is one of the most important Croatian tournaments, particularly for young players.” Cilic said, “It has always been my springboard and a firm basis for the season. After winning last year’s titles, I continued the longest winning streak in my career at other tournaments as well. I am glad that all the best Croatian players will again get together, and I believe that there will also be a few wild cards for the young hopes.”
Cilic will have to get past other top Croatian players, Ivo Karlovic who won this event in 2011, Ivan Dodig and Borna Coric to win the title this season.
PBZ Croatian Indoors Field
- Marin Cilic
- Marcos Baghdatis
- Lukas Lacko
- Ricardas Berankis
- Adrian Mannarino
- Simone Bolelli
- Gilles Muller
- Vasek Pospisil
- Borna Coric
- Andreas Seppi
- Ivan Dodig
- Igor Sijsling
- Guillermo Garcia-Lopez
- Sergiy Stakhovsky
- Marcel Granollers
- Jiri Vesely
- Robin Haase
- Mikhail Youzhny
- Ivo Karlovic
Tournament Notes
Cilic won this event for the fourth time a year ago as he routed Tommy Haas 6-3, 6-4 in the final. It was the 10th ATP World Tour title for Cilic. Haas had a successful tournament debut but he couldn’t defeat Cilic. Cilic won this event in 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014. Ivan Dodig won it in 2011 while Mikhail Youzhny was the champ in 2012.
Tennis Predictions
If Cilic is healthy he is the clear choice to win this event but his health is a concern as he missed the Australian Open.In this field there are no other players in the top 25 in the world rankings as you have to go all the way down to Ivo Karlovic who is ranked 27th. Taking a flyer on Karlovic and Dodig might be worth a look though, simply because of the health questions surrounding Cilic.
