ATP Finals 2018: It's 'go big or go home' for Marin Cilic

The last round of the Round Robin matches at the ATP Finals will be finished by the end of the day, but we don't yet know who will be the four semifinalists.

This edition has lacked a bit of spice, except for a couple of matches, most others have been one-sided. Today might compensate for that as the results will decide the semifinalists for this tournament that is nearly half a century old.

An Alexander Zverev coming back from injury, a John Isner trying to utilize his lucky qualification and a Marin Cilic desperate to get back into full flow, will all be fighting to finish in the top 2 today. But let's focus on the fiery Cilic for now.

When Cilic takes court at about 8:00pm local time (1:30am, Saturday IST), he will know whether he has any chance at all of reaching the semifinal. His qualification depends on the result of the first match of the day, between Alexander Zverev and John Isner. The American has to win or at least take a set if Cilic wants to have a crack at the semifinal spot.

However, waiting for the Croat at the other side of the net will be the World No.1 and comeback king Novak Djokovic. Cilic's chances of winning that match look bleak considering their head-to-head record where he trails 2-16. However, he can take confidence from the fact that his last victory over the Serb came in the same city, albeit on a different surface - at the Queen's Club Championship.

The only win for the World No. 7 on hard courts came a couple of years ago. But he will be hoping that the luck of London can get the best out of him.

When your back is against the wall, going on the attack is not a choice but a compulsion. Cilic, whose power has sometimes been described as animal-like, does have the ability to pull a surprise - like he showed at the 2014 US Open. As a matter of fact, his semifinal victim in that tournament was none other than the man who has come back to qualify from a different group in this year's ATP Finals - Roger Federer.

A powerful serve, a hammer-like forehand and a good return game should help Cilic to replicate that kind of a performance. Another fact that can aid him is that Djokovic, having already qualified for the semis, might not find it easy to remain 100% motivated for the match - the way we saw with Kevin Anderson yesterday.

Knowing the champion that Djokovic is, he might not struggle as much as the South African. But that seems to be the best way for Cilic to advance.

The fifth seed at the year-ender can use his weight of shot to drag Djokovic to the forehand side and then deposit one towards his backhand. He has to get his shots to near-perfection in order to make Djokovic stretch a bit. He also has to force him to go down the line, as the Serb has a higher ratio of errors when playing that shot.

Yes, Cilic has other options based on his strengths, but during long rallies his chances of success will dwindle with each passing shot. In any case, beating such a great player who is in ominous form will be an immensely difficult proposition.

A win today will ensure the top spot in the Guga Kuerten group for Cilic. But a loss by any margin will send him out of the tournament. It is a 'go big or go home' scenario tonight for the Croatian contender, and it will be fascinating to see how he fares.