Croatia's Marin Cilic won his first Grand Slam title with
a comprehensive straight-sets win over Kei Nishikori of
Japan at the US Open.
Cilic won 6-3 6-3 6-3 to become the first Croat to win
one of the four tennis majors since his coach, Goran
Ivanisevic, at Wimbledon in 2001.
The 14th seed dominated throughout on a cool, breezy
day in New York, hitting 17 aces and dropping serve
just once in one hour and 54 minutes.
His victory completes a Grand Slam year that has seen
eight different winners of the singles titles across the
men's and women's games, for the first time since
1998.
"I don't know how I did it. It was hard work over the
last few years and especially this last year," said Cilic,
who missed last year's US Open as he served a ban for
taking a prohibited stimulant.
"My team has brought something to me, especially
Goran.
"We're all working really hard but the most important
thing he brought to me was enjoying tennis, and
always having fun. I think I played the best tennis of
my life."
BBC Sport tennis correspondent Russell Fuller
"This time last year Marin Cilic was holed up in
Croatia, serving the last few months of his doping
ban and adding a few more revs to his serve. The
burning sense of injustice he still feels has driven
him to an achievement which had appeared beyond
him: he played so calmly and consistently for most
of the match - as if the trophy was his destiny.
"Coach Goran Ivanisevic has also played a major
part: adding more shots to his repertoire and
inflating his self belief. The faster courts at the US
Open played to his strengths, and he will enjoy
Australia too .. when the Grand Slam year restarts."
Nishikori said: "He was playing really well today, I
couldn't play my tennis. It's a really tough loss but I'm
really happy for first coming to the final."
Cilic, 25, kept up the momentum he had gathered in
brilliant wins over Tomas Berdych and Roger Federer
to power though to the title with nine sets in a row.
Nishikori, coached by former French Open champion
Michael Chang, had a much more punishing route to
the final, taking more than 11 hours to get past fifth
seed Milos Raonic, third seed Stan Wawrinka and
world number one Novak Djokovic.
Japan's first Grand Slam finalist was not lacking for
support, with huge numbers of his compatriots at
Flushing Meadows for the final and a nationwide TV
audience tuning in back home at 6am local time.
It was not fatigue or backing that proved decisive in
the final, however, as Cilic simply outplayed the 10th
seed.
Magic Marin
At 16 in the world, Cilic becomes the lowest-ranked
US Open champion since Pete Sampras (17) in
2002
Cilic is the lowest-ranked Grand Slam winner since
Gaston Gaudio (44) at the 2004 French Open
This was the first US Open final between two
players making their Grand Slam final debut since
1997, when Pat Rafter defeated Greg Rusedski
The last Grand Slam title match with two first-time
finalists was at Roland Garros in 2005, when Rafael
Nadal defeated Argentine Mariano Puerta
The Croat saw off a break point in game one, swatting
it aside with a crunching forehand winner, before
finding his range on serve.
That allowed him to concentrate on attacking the
Nishikori serve, and the pressure told in game six
when the 10th seed drifted a sliced forehand wide to
drop serve.
Cilic played a superb game to close out the set after 33
minutes and broke again in the third game of the
second set, despite Nishikori saving a third break point
with a stunning drop shot.
A less-than-full Arthur Ashe Stadium was well and
truly behind the Japanese player as they craved a
more compelling contest.
Match stats
Marin Cilic Kei Nishikori
17 Aces 2
3 Double faults 1
52 1st serve % 51
80 1st serve win % 55
61 2nd serve win % 59
38 Winners 19
27 Unforced errors 30
5/11 Break points won 1/9
Match time: 1hr 54mins
Cilic was on a roll though and earned a double break,
meaning he could afford to drop serve for the first time
before serving out at the second opportunity.
When a retreating Nishikori floated a backhand wide to
fall 3-1 behind in the third, it appeared that Cilic would
have the smoothest of paths to his first Grand Slam
title.
He faced three break points when just two games from
victory, but fired down an ace between tame Nishikori
returns and punching the air after arrowing a
backhand winner down the line to hold.
Moments later, two huge serves helped him to
championship point and, after a double-fault on the
first, he swung a backhand into the the open court
and roared in celebration.
Cilic is the sixth different US
Open champion in the past
seven years
Cilic ran into the crowd to
celebrate with his coach and
compatriot Goran Ivanisevic
Nishikori struggled to cope with
the power and consistency of
Marin Cilic's game
The crowd tried to raise
Nishikori's spirits but he was
unable to find the form that
helped him beat Novak Djokovic
in the semi-finals
Celebrities including Bruce Willis
(pictured), Michael J Fox,
Thierry Henry, Robert Redford
and Bill Gates were among the
crowd
by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
