US Open - The men's final

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For the first time in almost 10 years, there will be no Djoko, Rafa or Rog in a GS final. We'll have a new winner. Yes, but whom ? (to be ultra grammatical).
Sitting on the fence, it would be easy to make out a good case for either Cilic or Nishikori. Will Cilic serve, or play, as well as he did against Fed? Will Nishikori last the pace after a series of long matches? With this being new ground for both of them, it's difficult to imagine just how they will cope with the pressure of a GS final.
I'm guessing that one of them may play poorly, although from a spectator point of view I'm hoping it's a cracking final. My prediction ? Nishikori in four sets.

Anyways so happy to see Cilic lift it, has been a dark horse for like 6 years now, I remember people wrote highly of him in 2008 Wimb and here he is now.

Great win for Cilic. He is a much better player than he was prior to his suspension. He really is going after the ball. As a big man I always felt that he was too comfortable and too easily allowed himself to be pinned in these lengthy rallies. Also in the past he didn't get enough free points off his first serve. Mentally he is tougher and is now playing with that chip on his shoulder that most great champions need.

Well done to Marin Cilic. I have always liked his game and is a bit like Berdych but more athletic or should I say nimble and more dynamic. He was weak in the mental department but he seems to have rectified that to some degree and nailed down a slam win. Very well done to him.

The big question is have we now entered a spell where slam wins will be shared around to random winners considering Wawrinka and Cilic have won slams this year?

Amazing that Cilic hasn't even won a 500, let alone reached a Masters final. The key question is whether the level he showed this tournament is going to be consistently achieved going forwards or whether he just got hot for the week. Hopefully, its the former as he is an excellent player to watch.

Also, interesting to see how Goran has improved that serve this year. Does make me wonder if Murray getting someone like Sampras on board even on a part-time basis would be worth doing.

Goran woulda had three or four Slams if he had the Ice water for blood his charge has.

It is a great achievement for Cilic and he did really well as winning a slam is not an easy thing to do. Where he goes from here is anyone's guess.

He may not go on to win another like Del Potro, who every one thought had finally arrived but has been blighted with injuries. I do feel for Nishikori though as he took out some pretty big names and it makes me wonder whether Cilic would have been able to find a way round Djokovic if they met. I know he was close at WImbledon but being close is different from getting the job done.

Maybe the top guys had just played too much tennis and ran out of steam towards the end. I think Cilic's win over Federer was great for him to overcome a 5-0 h2h but to be honest, today anyone on a good day can beat Federer whether no 1 or 116 (Stakhovsky). What is more of a concern is Djokovic's losses as he is in his 'prime' and you would expect more from him.

A changing of the guard I think not. This slam was missing Nadal. That is always a huge factor as I think Nadal could have won this tournament had he been fit to enter.

Well done to Cilic. It has been good to see different slam winners this year. There just seems to be more belief now that the guys who have dominated over the past 5 years can be beaten. Seems like they are just past their prime now and the likes of Cilic, Nishikori, Dimitrov and Raonic are coming into to theirs. Should make for an interesting couple of years coming up.

It's always nice to see a major won on a winner rather than an opponent's error.

FedsFan wrote:What is more of a concern is Djokovic's losses as he is in his 'prime' and you would expect more from him.

A changing of the guard I think not. This slam was missing Nadal. That is always a huge factor as I think Nadal could have won this tournament had he been fit to enter.

Djokovic was actually pretty much in line with what we should expect by now! Great form in the opening rounds that fizzles out toward the business end. I'm always surprised that people are surprised when this happens.

(On a related note, watch out for how often Djokovic claims to have been 'emotionally flat' or not having a 'good feeling' on the court. The guy's head is all over the place and has been for some time.)

Nadal would have been a contender for sure, but I think he probably is on the gradual downward cycle of his career now. More injuries, some uncharacteritsic losses earlier in the year... it would be a surprise to me if he hits another period of dominance.

I see it as a slow change of the guard. Djokovic, Nadal and Murray will continue to be serious challengers but the days of Big 3/4 monopoly are surely over now.

Once the 'aura' has gone, victories become harder. There have been countless occasions where players have had these top players on the ropes but have choked when the enormity of what they are about to do kicks in. Players now believe these guys can be beaten and more and more players will get over the line against them.

HM Murdoch wrote:

FedsFan wrote:What is more of a concern is Djokovic's losses as he is in his 'prime' and you would expect more from him.

A changing of the guard I think not. This slam was missing Nadal. That is always a huge factor as I think Nadal could have won this tournament had he been fit to enter.

Djokovic was actually pretty much in line with what we should expect by now! Great form in the opening rounds that fizzles out toward the business end. I'm always surprised that people are surprised when this happens.

(On a related note, watch out for how often Djokovic claims to have been 'emotionally flat' or not having a 'good feeling' on the court. The guy's head is all over the place and has been for some time.)

Nadal would have been a contender for sure, but I think he probably is on the gradual downward cycle of his career now. More injuries, some uncharacteritsic losses earlier in the year... it would be a surprise to me if he hits another period of dominance.

I see it as a slow change of the guard. Djokovic, Nadal and Murray will continue to be serious challengers but the days of Big 3/4 monopoly are surely over now.

Once the 'aura' has gone, victories become harder. There have been countless occasions where players have had these top players on the ropes but have choked when the enormity of what they are about to do kicks in. Players now believe these guys can be beaten and more and more players will get over the line against them.

Absolutely spot on.

Well, so much for my forecast of Nishikori in four. Looks like Cilic carried on where he left of in the semis. Interesting that not only was this a four-different-guys-win-a-slam year but also a four-different-gals-win-slams year. First time that's happened since 1998 and no doubt you'll all be able to name the winners in that year.

Men: Korda, Moya, Sampras, Rafter
Ladies: Hingis, Novotna, Davenport

Just unsure about the '98 French Open ladies singles.....Take a guess at Sanchez-Vicario?

It may be Graf, but unsure.

Just looking at Cilic's career statistics...

He's reached 21 ATP finals, winning 12 and being runner-up 9 times.  11 of those 12 titles have come in 250 events (including 4 at his "home" tournament in Zagreb, the other one being yesterday evening).  There's been no Masters finals but he has reached 3 500 finals, losing to Djokovic once and Berdych twice.  He's scored some good wins in those tournaments with notable victories being against Nadal at the China Open in 2009 and Murray at this year's Rotterdam Open.  Finally, he's won titles on every surface now available and both indoors and outdoors.

It will be interesting how he does at the world tour finals.. and see if he keeps it up like Stan has. I don't think Marin will go away and say he will take it easy. BE AFRAID MERE MORTALS!!

Josiah Maiestas wrote:It will be interesting how he does at the world tour finals.. and see if he keeps it up like Stan has. I don't think Marin will go away and say he will take it easy. BE AFRAID MERE MORTALS!!

Is he the new Soderling?

Not being funny but do you really think that Stan has kept it up ? I'm not so sure. After winning the AO he has won Monte Carlo which was an excellent result for him. However the rest of his results have been pretty average. Mainly getting to QF's before losing. Don't think he is playing at anywhere the level he did at the AO on a consistent basis.

I do agree though that I don't see Cilic being a flash in the pan now that he has made the breakthrough.

Calder106 wrote:Not being funny but do you really think that Stan has kept it up ? I'm not so sure. After winning the AO he has won Monte Carlo which was an excellent result for him. However the rest of his results have been pretty average. Mainly getting to QF's before losing. Don't think he is playing at anywhere the level he did at the AO on a consistent basis.

I do agree though that I don't see Cilic being a flash in the pan now that he has made the breakthrough.

+1

The only bad results from Stan were the losses to GGL and Anderson

Could've beat Kei aswell. Stan will not make fake injury claims like Murray/Dal, so...

Josiah Maiestas wrote:The only bad results from Stan were the losses to GGL and Anderson

Could've beat Kei aswell. Stan will not make fake injury claims like Murray/Dal, so...

Didn't beat Kei though did he. Who mentioned Murray/Dal or injuries. Not part of this thread.

Just feel as world number 4 he should be getting into more S/F's and Finals before it can be claimed he is keeping up the form that won him the AO.

He beat Ferrer and Federer at MonteCarlo. Pretty big wins AFTER his AO triumph. Just 1 tie break away from making the semi's

An interesting comparison between Cilic and Wawrinka.

Stan pushed Djokovic to 5 sets at last year's USO before going on to win the next major - the 2014 AO. Cilic pushed Djokovic to 5 sets at this year's Wimbledon before going on to win the next major. I might be very wrong but what I personally read into that is players who come within a whisker of beating the best player in the world develop a belief that they can beat anyone on their day, provided they have the weapons.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:He beat Ferrer and Federer at MonteCarlo. Pretty big wins AFTER his AO triumph. Just 1 tie break away from making the semi's

I did say in my first post that Monte Carlo was after the AO and was an excellent result. He understandably had a dip at Indian Wells and Miami after winning the AO but I thought winning at Monte Carlo would put him back on track. Just doesn't seem to have pushed on again since then as I would have expected.