Marin Cilic: I've loved time as a new dad, but it's time to compete at US Open - The Players' Voice

Just after the Australian Open, my baby boy was born so it has actually been a great time for me, this period. This will be my first Grand Slam as a dad, and I hope there will be more! It’s a little bit strange being away from my family again now, but we are talking every day and it just brings joy to my face and I’m just so happy to see him every single time.

The coronavirus has given a new perspective to everyone. I’ve been so fortunate overall, looking back at almost all my career, that I have been able to play constantly. I have not had any big setbacks, I haven’t had too much time off, so it has been amazing. The coronavirus shows us that things can change really quickly and you need to just enjoy life as much as you can while it lasts and always give your best at whatever you do to achieve what you want to achieve. Enjoy what you do, push yourself and always have a good go at it.

For me with my baby boy, it was perfect timing to have this time off because he was born and I could spend time with my family. I’ve been on the tour since 2006 and every single year is really intense without many breaks. Even when you do have time off, in the back of your mind you’re already setting yourself up to prepare for the next tournament, so you are never switched off. This time, I could really relax, train and just switch off completely with my family.

This summer, however, I have felt very eager to begin to play again because I was doing so much training and I just wanted to compete. It has not been easy to organise everything, so the USTA have done very well to make the US Open happen. Hopefully it is all going to go okay and the players can compete again.

We are based in Long Island so we can see New York City on the map, but we are pretty far away from Manhattan and the regular things we do when we are here for the US Open! It has been a different set up this time, but we were all expecting this and have adjusted. Upon our arrival, we had to be tested and, when it came back negative, we were able to go to the site and train. The only thing missing is the fans, and it’s going to be a bit weird to play without them. The matches might look like practice sessions because the fans normally bring real tension, drama and a great atmosphere, particularly in the US Open night sessions for those long five-setters and thrilling tie-breaks.

I still believe that the level of the tennis is going to be very high because everyone has been working so hard away from the tour and we are all so motivated to play again. Like with the NBA in Orlando, we are here in a bubble, but it is okay because we can really just focus on the tennis. At a regular US Open there is so much to do away from the tennis but this time, for example, if my coach wants to do an extra session you just do it because you don’t need to be anywhere else! The seeds have special suites inside Arthur Ashe Stadium and we can hang out there and order food, so in many ways it is even better than normal. It is almost like we are fans too this year because there is so much to do at the site – outdoor gyms, for example – in spaces that would usually be kept for other things. We can even watch other matches, so it should be very enjoyable.

There are quite a few players who could do really well at this US Open. It could be pretty similar to the NBA play-offs in terms of upsets without fans and with home advantages out of the equation. We are all in the same position in terms of match freshness and so it will be very interesting to see how everyone reacts to this opportunity. Obviously Novak Djokovic will be there, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Andrey Rublev is playing great, Roberto Bautista Agut had a great opening to the season. So there are quite a few players who are playing extremely well and it is going to be interesting to see how much others have improved, particularly the youngsters. I believe it is going to be fascinating to play in this tournament for us players, and also for the fans to see how it is all going to unfold.