TENNIS US OPEN – In a continuation of an epic day of upset men’s semifinal, Marin Cilic not only beat Roger Federer for the first time, he crushed him in straight sets 6-3 6-4 6-4 for his first major final. From New York, Cordell Hackshaw
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The tennis world barely got over the shock of world’s number 1 Novak Djokovic being dismissed in 4 sets by Kei Nishikori (10) before it had to face another startling reality; Roger Federer (2) was summarily dismissed from the tournament in straight sets by Marin Cilic (14) 6-3 6-4 6-4. This is almost like tennis Armageddon; both top men’s seeds beaten on the same day in emphatic fashion by two players not even officially ranked in the top 10. Surely when Djokovic went out, it could not be possible that Federer would exit on the same day, having not made the finals. Coming into this match, Federer was 5-0 lifetime against Cilic. In fact, he beat several weeks ago en route to the Montreal final. Yet in this match, Federer hardly looked like he had a clue as to what was going on as Cilic was as he said, “[F]irst point to the last, I was absolutely playing the best tennis of my life.”
The match was barely on its way before Federer was facing break point having been up 40-0 in the game. Cilic was able to secure the early break and with that, complete control of the match. Cilic closed out the set 6-3. In the 2nd set, Cilic continued with his great form as he broke Federer early for a 2-0 lead. Federer never saw a break point chance in the set as Cilic continued to be dominant. Cilic on his 10th ace, took the set and a 2-0 sets lead. This lead was unassailable and even Federer knew this as he would later state, “I wasn’t as confident this time around because Marin played more aggressive … I knew probably this comeback would be tougher just because of the risk he was taking and … how big he was serving.”
In the 3rd set, Federer started it off well with a break of Cilic’s serve for the first time in the match. However, he was broken immediately after to get back on serve. Cilic then broke Federer again in the 7th game to lead 5-3 after consolidating the break. Federer was able to hold serve comfortably for the first time to force Cilic to serve for the match. Cilic completed the task in spectacular fashion. He served three consecutive aces to bring up triple match point and then hit a backhand winner for the match win, 6-3 6-4 6-4 in an hour and 45 minutes.
The real measure of this match was the completeness to Cilic’s game, on both his serve and his return. He was doing everything right. He won 87% of his 1st serve points and 56% on his 2nd serve compared to Federer who was only winning 71% on his 1st serve and 48% on his 2nd serve. “I felt today the return was extremely good, especially on the second serve and that, you know, opened up many more opportunities for me,” Cilic said. This was very much the case. He broke Federer four times in the match compared to Federer who did it once and only saw two break point chances. Federer did not necessarily play a bad game, he was simply outplayed and outmatched. He had 6 less errors than Cilic for the match, 17 to 23 but Cilic had 43 winners compared to the 28 from Federer. “I think him playing with the lead he played with, you know, no fear and just full-out confidence … It was just like full swing from all sides … No holding back from his side. I just couldn’t hang with him for long enough to create some doubts in his mind,” Federer said after the match.
This is the first time since 2005 Australian Open men’s final that neither Federer, Djokovic, Andy Murray nor Rafael Nadal has made the final of a major event. “[I]t’s interesting situation, you know, where you have two players who have never been in a Grand Slam final before and in a way they have nothing to lose,” Federer said. Cilic also spoke on this matter, “[I]t’s a bit of a changeup year considering all the past years that these top four guys were making it to the final. Wawrinka opened the doors for us from the “second” line and I think most of us guys have now bigger belief that they can do it on the Grand Slams.”
Nishikori is 5-2 lifetime against Cilic and interestingly enough, they played at the US Open twice in the past and they each won one of the matches. Cilic spoke of the matchup, “[W]e have both different game styles … [H]e hits the ball extremely well from the back of the court. I think I’m going to have to just focus on my game to break that a little bit of rhythm and to try to serve well.”
