"This is his chance to win Wimbledon," Ivanisevic, a Croatian who won Wimbledon in 2001, told The Times of London newspaper.
"Gilles Muller is a great player, but Cilic is better and if you were offered the chance to play Sam Querrey in the semi-final of a grand-slam event, you would take it."
Ivanisevic believes he saw "something different" in Cilic when he first saw him play at the age of 14 and followed his entire career.
He took over as Cilic's coach in 2013 and helped him on his way to a grand slam title, a year later, at the U.S. Open. The two parted ways in July 2016, after Cilic was knocked out of Wimbledon by Roger Federer in the quarter-finals.
"It's tough to explain, but it's something different, something that you cannot learn, something that you cannot buy. You are born with it," Ivanisevic added.
"He has the potential to be a top-four player. It will be big news in Croatia if he gets past Querrey today and makes the final."
Cilic has won all his previous four encounters against Querrey and so will start as the favourite to book a place in Sunday's final.
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
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