Nishikori, Cilic clash in shock final

Pair of last-four surprises sees off Djokovic, Federer.

NEW YORK:

It is the US Open final that no one predicted and nobody is more surprised than Japan’s Kei Nishikori, the first Asian man to make a Grand Slam final, who faces fellow first-timer Marin Cilic on Monday.

After top seeds Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer were disposed of in the semi-finals, the championship match will be the first not to feature Djokovic, Federer or Rafael Nadal since Australia in 2005.

It will also be the first in New York with two debutants since Pat Rafter defeated Greg Rusedski in 1997.



No wonder Nishikori is still pinching himself after his 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 win over Djokovic.

“I am a little bit surprised about playing the final,” said the 24-year-old, whose previous best Grand Slam run had been a quarter-final at the 2012 Australian Open.

His win over Djokovic, his second in three career meetings with the world number one, followed a five-set quarter-final triumph over fifth seed Milos Raonic and another five-set, four and a quarter-hour marathon against third-seeded Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka.



His success comes despite him having to sit out the Toronto and Cincinnati Masters on the eve of the US Open to have a cyst removed from his toe, a painful problem which almost forced him to skip New York.

“I just started playing points a few days ago before the tournament. I didn’t even know if I should come to New York, so I wasn’t expecting anything actually,” said the 10th seed.

The finalists’ journey

If form is any guide, then Nishikori should race away with the title as he boasts a 5-2 record over the 25-year-old Croat, including both meetings this year, on hardcourt in Brisbane and on Barcelona clay.

However, they have split their two past US Open duels, with Nishikori winning in 2010 and Cilic coming out on top two years ago.

The quietly-spoken Japanese has come a long way since his arrival in the US a decade ago not knowing a word of English.

Cilic too has endured a tough journey of his own over the last year, albeit a more controversial one.

The 25-year-old 14th seed missed the 2013 US Open to serve a doping ban handed out after he tested positive for a banned stimulant contained in an over-the-counter supplement.

Fired up by indignation over the way the case was handled, Cilic is a man on a mission having bettered his previous Grand Slam best of a semi-final spot at the 2010 Australian Open.

Playing in his 28th Grand Slam event, Cilic, however, wondered if his time in the biggest spotlight would ever come.

“When you are young on the tour you always feel you have enough time,” said Cilic after his 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 rout of Federer.

“You have a lot of grand slams. You’re going to do well. But when the time starts to pass by, you are more anxious if it’s going to happen or it’s not going to happen.”

Makarova, Vesnina dash Hingis’s title dream

Martina Hingis’s hopes of winning her first Grand Slam doubles title since 2002 were shattered on Saturday when the Russian pairing of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina took the US Open title.

Hingis, 33, was playing with Italy’s Flavia Pennetta but despite a promising start to the final they went down 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to the fourth seeds.

Hingis last appeared in a doubles final at a Grand Slam in 2002 at the Australian Open where she won the title with Anna Kournikova, one of nine doubles crowns she captured during her heydey.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2014.

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