LONDON _ Marin Cilic was bothered by some type of medical issue during his match against Roger Federer on Sunday. Turns out, it was a blister on the ball of his left foot.
At one point, with Federer leading in the second set 3-0, Cilic was in tears in his courtside chair between the first and second set, and sat for several moments with a towel pulled over his head. When he finally returned to play, he got a standing ovation.
After he lost the second set, Cilic removed his left shoe and had his bandaged foot examined. He then took a medical timeout while his foot was retaped.
"We even tried with some anesthetics (before the match) just to block the pain," he said. "But in that area it's very difficult because it's hard skin. It helped, but I still felt some pain.
"Even when I was warming up for the match, I was trying to test myself in exercises with change of direction. Really I was too slow basically to react. I knew that it's going to be difficult. But I tried."
Cilic conceded it was especially discouraging that something so seemingly minor as a blister could have such an effect on his game.
"You go through so many things, even exercising in the gym, to get your body ready for everything," he said. "Such a small thing can make such a difference."
Whether it made any real difference against Federer, particularly how well the Swiss icon was playing, is anyone's guess.
