I knew him, he didn’t know me: Jozef Kovalik

The 24-year-old said coming through the rigours of the qualifiers was good as it gave him match practice. “I think it was good to come through qualifying. I didn’t look at who I was playing in the main draw. It is a good experience to play against the top seed in any tournament. It made me give my best and I prevailed,” he said. 

Kovalik said he had nothing to lose when playing Cilic. “I saw him many times on TV playing in big centre courts against the best guys. I knew him and he didn’t know me and that was a big plus. It would be bad for him losing to me as I have nothing to lose. I can play my game. I played well and took all chances that is important to win,” Kovalik added. Kovalik admitted that it was a new experience to beat a top player. “Until the last point, I didn’t believe that I could pull it off. It is a new experience. It gives me confidence that I can play against them and win too,” the 24-year-old said. 

Earlier, Cilic said he lost the match on his inability to convert half-chances. “You are always rusty before first match. I was hesitating to go for shots and gave him opportunity to go for it. He was making most of shots until the end. In the third set after I got the rhythm, I had small opportunities I was not able to convert it. I lost concentration at 5-5. It is not good to start the season like this. But I didn’t feel like I played that bad. I was serving well too,” Cilic said. 

Cilic admitted that never playing Kovalik before was one of the reasons for the loss. “That was difficult. I have never played him. He came through last year in the tour and had a few good results. I think he played extremely well. I was not expecting that from him,” the top-seed added.