The pair were on holiday in the off-season with their families when it emerged they were both in the same place.
Cilic and Federer knew each other were there but held off contacting one another.
But the Croat broke the silence by sending Federer a text message asking him if he’d like to practise – and it was an offer he duly took up.
Federer said: “I was there first, I think, and he arrived later on the island. I was told that Marin was coming. I was like, ‘Oh, that’s cool. It’s not that they warned me another tennis player is coming. It’s all good, we’re fine’.
“When he arrived, I didn’t want to bother him. He didn’t want to bother me. After two days, he wrote to me: ‘I’m here, too, in case you want to catch up and stuff, let me know’.
“I was like, ‘Sure, let me know if you want to hit’.
“He was eager to hit because it’s good to stay in the rhythm for both of us. We also met up later for drinks, met his fiancée.
“We had cake together, my whole family and him. We had a good time. It’s not like we’re hanging out all the time, but our paths crossed a few times. We actually went to practice twice for 45 minutes.
“It’s great fun. No coaches, no nothing, just the two of us on the court hitting balls. It was just nice and laid back.
“To get to know the man behind the tennis player, I guess, even though I got to know him better through the Laver Cup and so forth.”
