With the current suspension of the ATP and WTA Tours, USOpen.org is reliving some of the biggest tennis matches in the tournament's history in photos. In our latest featured match, we look back at the 2014 US Open men's final between Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori. Watch the full match on the US Open YouTube channel.
Marin Cilic captured the first Grand Slam title of his career at the 2014 US Open, defeating Kei Nishikori, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3, to become the first Croat to win a major title since his coach, Goran Ivanisevic, won the men's singles championship at Wimbledon in 2001.
The match was the first major championship in nine years—when Marat Safin beat Lleyton Hewitt at the 2005 Australian Open—that did not feature either Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal competing for the title.
Here's a look back in photos at the battle between Nishikori, the first Asian-born man to play in a Grand Slam final, and Cilic, the first Croatian finalist since Ivanisevic won 13 years earlier at the All England Club.
Cilic, 25, and Nishikori, 24, played seven times before squaring off in the 2014 final, with Nishikori leading their head-to-head meetings, 5-2. Cilic had won the last time they had played each other in a major, in the third round of the 2012 US Open.
Both players were coached by former Grand Slam champions, with Cilic working with 2001 Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic and Nishikori with 1989 French Open winner Michael Chang. Above, Nishikori practices prior to the men's final as coach Chang looks on.
Before the 2014 US Open, Cilic's best result at a Slam was a semifinal appearance at the 2010 Australian Open, with his quarterfinal performances in 2009 and 2012 his top showings in Flushing Meadows.
Nishikori's best Grand Slam performance was a quarterfinal finish at the 2012 Australian Open. His top result in New York came in 2008, when he made the fourth round in his US Open debut.
No. 14 seed Cilic powered to the final with straight-set wins over No. 7-ranked Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals and No. 3-ranked Roger Federer in the semifinals.
Nishikori, seeded 10th, won back-to-back five-set marathons against fifth seed Milos Raonic in the Round of 16 and third seed Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals, before shocking world No. 1 Novak Djokovic to reach the final.
Cilic won 80 percent of points on his first serve and served 17 aces in the match. He hit 38 winners, compared to 27 unforced errors, and converted on 5-of-11 break points. He won the final nine sets he played in the tournament.
Nishikori won only 55 percent of points on his first serve and hit 19 winners and 30 unforced errors. He converted on only one of his nine break-point opportunities.
"He was playing really well today; I couldn't play my tennis," Nishikori said, following the one-hour, 54-minute match. "It's a really tough loss, but I'm really happy for first coming to the final."
"My team has brought something to me, especially Goran," said 16th-ranked Cilic, who became the lowest-ranked men's US Open champion since a No. 17-ranked Pete Sampras in 2002. "We're all working really hard, but the most important thing he brought to me was enjoying tennis, and always having fun. I think I played the best tennis of my life."
