It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The 2014 US Open Final was supposed to feature Andy Murray, Roger Federer, or Novak Djokovic, or some combination thereof. After all, the last time a Grand Slam Final didn’t feature one of those men or Rafa Nadal was 2005, when Marat Safin defeated Lleyton Hewitt in the Australian Open.
So it seemed smart, safe even, to assume one of those three men would be around come Monday. Even outlets explicitly looking for upsets, such as this preview from Gambling.com, put stock in young stars like Milos Raonic and Grigor Dimitrov, while Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic felt like afterthoughts, the men poised to tumble out near the finish without reaching it. Boy did they prove everyone wrong.
Nishikori became one of the darlings of the tournament, beating fellow underdog story and 2014 Aussie Open champion Stan Wawrinka and Djokovic to reach his first career Grand Slam Final. That he was utilizing former French Open Champion and Tennis Hall of Famer Michael Chang as his coach was one of the most intriguing stories of the tournament, as was Nishikori’s quest to become the first Asian man to claim a singles Grand Slam title.
On the other side was the Croatian Cilic, also seeking his first Grand Slam win and looking to take his career to the next level after falling into a sort of stasis in major tournaments since bursting onto the scene with a defeat of Murray at the 2009 U.S. Open and a semifinal appearance at the 2010 Australian Open. Victories over Tomas Berdych and Federer put Cilic in prime position to claim the title, and he did so in convincing fashion over Nishikori, winning 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.
While some (read: CBS, broadcasting the Open for the final time after over 40 years of carrying the vent) would have liked to have the bigger names in the final, perhaps the emergence of players like Nishikori, Cilic and Wawrinka are positives for a sport that has been dominated in almost rote fashion by a select few players for most of the last decade. Increased parity gives more weight to each match and makes victories feel more important. Beyond that, the Big Four are all nearing 30 (or well past it in the case of Federer) and years of high-level tennis are starting to take a toll on the bodies of these men (as evidenced by Nadal’s absence from the Open entirely).
Creating new stars now is important to the continued growth and success of tennis, and to see players like Nishikori and Cilic step up on one of the biggest stages in the sports is an encouraging step in that direction.
Marin Cilic has never reached the final of a Masters 1000. Benoit Paire and Fabio Fognini have.
Marin Cilic has never reached the semis of any Masters 1000.
Marin Cilic has never won an ATP 500 tournament.
CBS’s US Open Men’s final drew a 1.9 overnight rating, down 32% from last year’s 2.8. Women’s final got a 4.0, more than double.
#Facts
um, no
Benoit Paire has never come CLOSE to reaching the final of a Masters 1000.
Pretty sure Fognini hasn’t either.
Reaching a semi is pretty close to reaching a final by my reckoning……..
oh yeah, Rome last year
and no, it’s not even close.
Paire ran Fed close, I watched it………
That’s like saying Fed is No. 1 because 2 is pretty close to 1.
yep
^^WTF?
Correction: Benoit Paire and Fabio Fognini have reached a SEMI of a Masters 1000, not final.
no way Paire has reached a semi
Rome Clay Masters 2013 Fed defeated Benoit Paire 76 64 in the semis en route to being defeated 61 63 by Rafael Nadal in the final.
“CBS’s US Open Men’s final drew a 1.9 overnight rating, down 32% from last year’s 2.8. Women’s final got a 4.0, more than double.”
And this is why it is naive to think draws are left to random chance.
#HowManyTimes???
#Business101
Stars don’t just turn up once in a blue Slam, they turn up week in, week out. Too soon to bring out the “new stars are here” monogrammed champagne flutes……….
Hilarious..enjoy 🙂
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/us-open-mens-final-djokovic-federer-cilic-nishikori/
Hilairous! thanks for sharing…existentialist roger and of course his email domain would be @me.com 🙂 loved this line ” Sometimes I look at the twins, or at the other twins,”
wonder if this guy is pseudofed?
If delPo remains healthy after his latest setback, and the new improved version of Cilic continues, this could usher in a new chapter in a rivalry which dates back to their junior days. Right now delPo leads the H2H (8:2)
Rivalries which produce consistently exciting matches IMO are equally as important for the future health of tennis as finding the next superstar. In an ideal world superstars also deliver riveting rivalries. We’ve been spoilt for the past ten years by having a truly Golden Era. Those don’t happen in every decade.
i’d call it a bromance more than a rivalry
Ha,ha. But the dynamics may change now Cilic is also a Grand Slam winner! The race will be on to be the first to win a Masters.
Despite all the stats listed above, Cilic could be the real deal, and replace Ferrer in the “Big 5″….and will Murray even stay in that Top 5?
He will have to motor to emulate Ferrer’s consistency over the long haul.
I watched Cilic for years and never saw much in him.
This has the potential to be Cilic 2.0.
I’d never been a fan of his but, form what I saw last week, I could become one real soon.
#RealDeal
what else does he have to do that he didn’t do in NYC?
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
at which event
you said “real soon”
ie – before Aussie Open
Well I just hope you don’t compare a relative and subjective term to an absolute and defined fact.
Don’t you?
Or do you.
No. You did. You said “real soon” is before Aussie Open when I compare maybe within the next 4-6 months or so to his years as a known player on tour.
Ok.
Good.
Well if he has continued good results (semis and up at the fall tournaments and even Aussie Open), winning at least one and continuing to thrash top players I will be a big fan.
He played very exciting and compelling tennis at the USO. Very Samprasesque shall we say.
I saw a great interview with him on Charlie Rose last night.
I just hope he can keep it up.
#RealDeal
#EmptySeats
Ricky @ 1:12pm
Develop a winning personality for a start…
can’t teach that
lord knows I’ve tried!
Come orff it Hawkeye. You know full well you’ve been one of our favourite posters for years.
@ritb
Too funny.
Not only did Lucky rate his tennis she also said in real life Cilic was dishy to look at. I’ll have to take her word for it.
ed, yes I know but it cannot be taught.
#Humb1e
Benoit Paire getting to the semis of a Masters doesn’t mean anything. There are flukes like that all the time. It’s true that Cilic hasn’t done anything prior to this, but isn’t it also true that Delpo never won a Masters event when he won the 2009 USO? I don’t think he’s won any even now. Sometimes things just all come together to provide a very surprising result.
Rafa wasn’t playing, Murray isn’t himself these days, and Fed is at a point in his career where he can’t capitalize even when he isn’t facing another top player in the semis. Novak looked like he could get to the final until the heat and Kei did him in. Cilic was able to take advantage of a good draw. We will have to see if he can keep it up and start winning consistently.