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No. 14 seed Marin Cilic wins U.S. Open for first major title

 
Marin Cilic goes from missing the Open in 2013 to winning it.
Marin Cilic goes from missing the Open in 2013 to winning it.
Published Sept. 9, 2014

NEW YORK — After the frustration and the waiting; after the nerves and last year's bitterness, it suddenly looked easy for Marin Cilic.

See ball. Hit ball. See opportunity. Seize opportunity.

He has never had a bigger one on a tennis court, and the 6-foot-6 Cilic truly did not flinch: Walking tall into Arthur Ashe Stadium and playing taller Monday as he swept to the U.S. Open title with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 rout of Kei Nishikori.

"Everything I was working for and dreaming came today," Cilic said. "And I feel for all those other players who are working hard, this is a big sign and big hope that if you are working hard things are going to pay off."

A year ago Cilic, 25, missed the U.S. Open, suspended after testing positive for a banned stimulant. He faced a two-year ban but appealed, arguing that he had unintentionally ingested the substance in a glucose tablet. The suspension was lifted after four months.

"It angered me how all the process went, because it was not fair to me," Cilic said last week. "It wouldn't be fair to any tennis player. So that was just very bad memories. But, you know, when you're against big organizations you are (a) small hand. You can't do much. So I just accepted it. When I came back to (the) tennis court I erased it from my memory. I just used the positive parts, which, you know, made me tougher."

He returned to the tour in October, rose in the rankings and arrived in New York seeded 14th, with two titles to his credit in 2014. But it would have taken quite a soothsayer to predict that he would claim the Open in an era when just three men — Roger Federer (17), Rafael Nadal (14) and Novak Djokovic (seven) won 38 of the previous 45 Grand Slams.

Cilic and Japan's Nishikori, the first man from Asia to reach a Slam singles final, knocked off two of that power trio in the semifinals — Nishikori upsetting No. 1 seed Djokovic and Cilic downing No. 2 Federer.

"I think I showed my potential (that) I can beat anybody now," 10th-seeded Nishikori said.

But fatigue showed against Cilic.

"Played too (much) tennis on the court these two weeks," said Nishikori, who also knocked off No. 5 seed Milos Raonic and No. 3 Stan Wawrinka in this tournament. "Couldn't fight one more match."

Goran Ivanisevic, the big-serving and charismatic Croatian, became Cilic's coach late last year and has brought expertise and positive energy to his countryman.

"We are working really hard, but the most important thing he brought to me was joy in tennis and always having fun," Cilic said.

Like Ivanisevic in his prime, the power game worked well for Cilic on Monday. He had 17 aces, to two for Nishikori, and won 80 percent of the points on his first serve.

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Now, both coach and the pupil have one Grand Slam singles title apiece. Ivanisevic won his in strange-but-true fashion, too, at Wimbledon in 2001 as a wild card in a final pushed to Monday because of rain.

"I guess Mondays are special for Croatians," Cilic said.

This was likely the last Monday men's final at the Open — it is scheduled to move back to its traditional Sunday slot next year. And a retractable roof is scheduled to be completed by 2016 at Ashe Stadium.

CBS, broadcasting the Open for the final time after 46 years, marked the occasion (and filled the airtime made vacant by the lopsided final) by showing footage of the classic 1991 Round of 16 match between Jimmy Connors and Aaron Krickstein, long a CBS rain-delay staple. ESPN takes full control of Open coverage in 2015.