A recap of the last five US Open men's singles finals

#4 Marin Cilic vs Kei Nishikori (2014)

Cilic after his victory over Nishikori

Marin Cilic, who had blown Roger Federer and Thomas Berdych off the court with his dauntless game in the semifinals and quarterfinals, was up against Japan’s Kei Nishikori, the first ever Asian player to reach the men’s singles final in Grand slam history.

It was the moment of a lifetime for both players as neither of them had appeared in a Grand slam final previously. It was also the first time a Grand Slam final didn’t feature Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray or Novak Djokovic since 2005.

Nishikori had the chance to break Cilic’s serve in the first set, but the latter was too strong and he went on to hold his serve. It was one-way traffic later on and Cilic won the first set 6-3. Cilic broke early in the second set as well and Nishikori just seemed helpless.

The ruthless Croatian then pounced with a perfect game, winning it with four aces and followed it up with another break, to go up 5-2 in the set. Though Nishikori broke his opponent’s serve in the next game, he dropped his serve and conceded the set 6-3.

With a two set lead, Cilic was riding high on confidence and broke Nishikori’s serve in the fourth game. Nishikori had his chances to break Cilic’s serve and stay alive in the contest, but finally, Cilic’s moment arrived when Nishikori double-faulted.

Cilic pursued his dream to lay hands on a Grand Slam trophy and became the lowest ranked men’s champion (16th rank) since Pete Sampras, who won the title in 2002, ranked 17th.