US Open 2014 Review

A new champion has emerged in the final Grand Slam event of the season in Croatia's Marin Cilic. After Stan Wawrinka's incredible victory run at the Australian Open this year, the New York crowd have ushered in their own new champion to mark the first time since 2003 that two majors in a season have been won by new players. The Croat defeated Japan's Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to become the first player from Croatia to win a Grand Slam since Goran Ivanisevic (Cilic's coach incidentally) did at Wimbledon in 2001.

Firstly, let's put Cilic's fantastic achievement into perspective: Since Roger Federer's first Wimbledon title in 2003, only Andy Roddick (US Open 2003), Gaston Gaudio (French Open 2004), Marat Safin (Australian Open 2005), Juan Martin Del Potro (US Open 2009) and Andy Murray (US Open 2012, Wimbledon 2013) have won Grand Slam titles outside of the "Big Three" conundrum of Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic before this year. To put Cilic's victory into even more perspective, there have been 45 Grand Slam events since Federer's first crown, with 39 of them being won by the "Big Three". This isn't a statistical review of the tournament but it's just to show what an unbelievable accomplishment that Cilic has managed to carry out. Take nothing away from Wawrinka's victory in Australia but the Swiss had been knocking on the door of the slams for a while and it did seem inevitable that he would claim a title sooner rather than later. I considered Cilic as a dark horse from the beginning of the tournament and only behind Djokovic in terms of a champion, but even I wasn't prepared for the Croat to play as well as he did during the fortnight at Flushing Meadows. The five set victory over France's Gilles Simon in the fourth round was when I realised that he had a good chance of winning the title. Before that match his head-to-head with the Frenchman was played four lost four and to overcome someone he had never beaten before under the circumstances of a fifth set shoot-out seemed to reinvigorate Cilic for the rest of the tournament. After that match he never lost another set; the effect of coach and fellow Croat Goran Ivanisevic was clear to see. Remember, Goran is a Wimbledon champion and so knows what it takes to win at the biggest stage. Most top players will now be thriving to get their hands on past Grand Slam winners because they can instill a belief that no ordinary tennis coach can. Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker and now Ivanisevic have all had their say lately, giving their respective players Grand Slam wins and with Michael Chang, Stefan Edberg and even possibly Amelie Mauresmo looking ever likely to achieve a slam win as a coach at some point in the future, who knows, maybe we will see more past champions returning as coaches. But under the guidance of Ivanisevic, Cilic has been moulded into the complete player, with a fantastic serve, great net-play, strong forehand and just playing quick and clinical tennis when it mattered most. He won the final in under two hours with 17 aces and 38 winners and in his dismantling of Federer in the semi-finals he hit 43 winners. Ivanisevic has transformed a player who only returned to competitive tennis this February, after four months out, into a player who could compete for many more Grand Slam titles in the future. In fact, I would go as far and say that Cilic will win at least five slams before the end of his career. It's hard to predict how many a player will win before they actually win one, but now he's claimed one he just seems destined for more. 

But Marin Cilic's first Grand Slam title has come at the expense of his opponent and Japanese star Kei Nishikori. With both players making their debut in a Grand Slam final, the New York crowd were guaranteed a new champion. Nishikori was also hoping to make history in becoming the first male Asian player to ever win a Grand Slam tournament. Unfortunately for Kei and the Japanese fans watching at home, Cilic was just too good on the day. But Nishikori's run at Flushing Meadows has been nothing short of amazing with his four set victory over Djokovic in the semi-finals being one of the biggest shocks of the tennis year. Fitness concerns have been raised during the season for Kei, especially after having to retire mid-match against Nadal in the final of the Madrid Open. But the new No.8 seed showed that his fragility that has been open for discussion throughout the season can be put to bed with three gruelling matches that many players would have struggled to come through unscathed. His five-set victory over Canadian Milos Raonic is a testament to his positive mental attitude that the 24 year-old has acquired since hiring former French Open champion Michael Chang this year. But the five-set triumph over Stan Wawrinka in the quarter-finals was even more remarkable given that he had spent just under nine hours on-court when finally finishing the Swiss off. So to come back 48 hours later and then deny Djokovic of a possible eighth Grand Slam title is almost mind-blowing when you think about it. The Serb didn't play great but Nishikori just took all the chances that were given to him and he executed it to near perfection, barring a mid-match blip in set two. The third set tie-break was vital for both players if they were to gain any kind of foothold on the match and when the Japanese player took it 7-4 you just felt at that moment that Djokovic's hopes had been vanquished. In fact, by the end of the match it seemed the Serb was becoming fatigued, his second serve percentages were dramatically dropping and he made 12 unforced errors in the fourth set alone, struggling to even return the ball beyond the net. Nishikori had fully justified his position in his first Grand Slam final with these victories, but the repercussions of such a heavy schedule over the last three rounds were clearly going to hamper his chances in the final. And it was evident even during the early stages of the contest as Kei's usual attacking game was falling flat and he just wasn't able to find a way to contain the serve and power of Cilic's game. Marin is a completely worthy champion, but it would have been interesting to see how the match would have unfolded if Nishikori was 100% match fit, you would have expected it to be a little closer at least.  


2014 has given the tennis world not a glimpse but more of a long gaze into what the future holds for men's tennis with two new Grand Slam champions and it seems that we head into 2015 having to be a little dubious as to making predictions. Of course this is by no means a bad thing for the sport, in fact it's great. It seems for the first time in over a decade we will head into Grand Slam tournaments next year without a clear favourite, with many new contenders emerging to challenge the hold the "Big Three" have had over the game for so long. Marin Cilic has always been remembered for winning a trophy at Queens Club through default after the infamous "kick" by David Nalbandian in 2012. Now the Croatian will always be remembered for winning the US Open in 2014.