The Big Four No More?

Nishikori and Cilic join others knocking on the door of the Big Four

September 10, 2014 | By Andrew Eichenholz
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“Excuse me?”

It is safe to say that fans, analysts and anybody else who played witness to the men’s semifinals of the 2014 U.S. Open on what will become known as arguably the most surprising day in tennis history were in absolute shock.

After a tournament in which the best men’s doubles team of all-time won their 100th title, a legend of years past reached the final of the women’s doubles draw and a queen retook her throne, all that will be remembered was the shock of the final Saturday.

No, tennis fans, the results were not a dream.

If anybody had said before the U.S. Open that Serena Williams would tie Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova with 18 Grand Slam titles, that Bob & Mike Bryan would win their 100th title together, and that no member of the “Big Four” would make the final, which one would people shoot down as having no chance to happen? Hazarding a guess, most fans would have been dead wrong.

With four players left in the men’s singles draw, it was looking like fans would be treated to a rematch of the Wimbledon final, an automatic thriller between world number one Novak Djokovic, and some guy named Roger Federer, who happened to have won 17 Grand Slam titles. But, two relative unknowns outside of the tennis community stood in their way. Djokovic faced the number 10 seed Kei Nishikori, a superstar in Japan, but more of a budding ball of potential in the tennis community. On the other half of the draw, facing off with Roger Federer was the 14-seed Marin Cilic, who had never really tested Federer in their five matches, besides taking a set off of the Swiss legend earlier in the summer.

What were the chances either would win? According to 888sport.com, Djokovic was the 1:9 favorite, while Federer had 1:4 odds in his favor. That’s about as lopsided as it gets for a major semifinal.

It happened in four sets and straight sets, respectively. Not even the slugfest that was Djokovic’s match against Andy Murray, or the thrilling war in which Federer came back to take out Gael Monfils. It took what seemed like a blink of an eye to see two of the sport’s legendary figures go out, leaving those on the grounds of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in total shock. Usually, one could tell that a match in the enormous Arthur Ashe Stadium is over when the crowd goes wild. On this Saturday … nothing. The only notification: The public address announcer reintroducing the fans to their winners, Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic.

Crickets could have been heard around the grounds, as stunned fans milled around, seeming rather lost. The truth is, only one was word possible to describe it all … shock.

The last time the seeds of the two finalists added up to more than that of Nishikori and Cilic was the 2009 French Open, when Federer won his first and so far only major on the terre batue. The thing is, the combined seeding was only so high because his opponent, Robin Soderling, was on the rise, getting his foot into the top-10 and staying there until illness riddled his career.

The lowest profile final before that? Andre Agassi putting a hurting on Rainer Schuttler in the 2003 Australian Open, which more than likely only happened because Schuttler’s semifinal opponent, Andy Roddick, had just played until 21-19 in the fifth set of his quarterfinal match.

The point is, such surprising finalists just do not come around in a Grand Slam anymore. Djokovic, Federer and Rafael Nadal missed their first slam final in almost a decade. Still not shocked?

It may be less that it happened, and more the manner in which it did go down. Djokovic had a subpar summer by his standards, not claiming any of the Masters 1000 titles, but he was in devastating form in Flushing Meadows. The Serbian dropped a total of 28 games in his first four matches combined.

Federer was not playing bad tennis himself. In fact, he came back from two sets down and two match points down in the fourth set of his titanic battle against the crowd-absorbing Gael Monfils. Before that, he had little trouble, dropping only one set, and easily dispensing the tough, flat-hitting Roberto Bautista-Agut.

The upsets simply made no sense. Whether it is the nature of tennis spectators to merely expect the best to play their top tennis in the latter stages of a tournament, or the assumption that those they play will at some point wilt under the pressure of the occasion, things just did not add up.

One thing did make sense … both Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic are for real, and they deserved to win.

Djokovic oddly enough won more points than Nishikori in their semifinal, taking 120 to Kei’s 117, but that does not mean that he outplayed him. In fact, Nishikori could have fallen apart after ‘Nole,’ as he is called in the tennis community, won the second set in what seemed like a heartbeat. His shots penetrated the court quicker, landed deeper, not giving Nishikori a chance to play the attacking tennis that did him so well in the first set. A 6-1 set gives the winner of it tons of momentum, but like his coach Michael Chang did over the years, Nishikori kept fighting. He played his brand of tennis, stepping up and ripping it, taking advantage of Djokovic’s groundstrokes falling shorter and shorter, with uncharacteristic errors to take the match.

One player was opportunistic, the other was not, plain and simple. Novak had 13 break opportunities while Kei only had seven. That is a pretty big difference, and credit goes to Nishikori for making the most of it in his 6-4, 1-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory, becoming the first Japanese man to make a Grand Slam final.

It is eerie to think about how straightforward the second semifinal was. Cilic’s second round win over Ilya Marchenko took far more time. Fans would have expected the result to be somewhat similar to that of his semifinal at Wimbledon earlier in the summer against Milos Raonic. A new face, overcome by the occasion, Federer neutralized Raonic’s main weapon, his serve, and played solid first-strike tennis to never really give the Canadian a shot.

Cilic, although he has a slightly less effective serve, and a bit more of a refined groundstroke game than Raonic’s, did not seem like he would be able to do anything differently. It was Federer, with a chance to play Nishikori for his 18th Grand Slam title at the end of the day. Yet, Cilic played out of his mind.

The Croatian made the most of his serve, never giving Federer any rhythm, hitting his spots with great variation and pace. When somebody wins 73 percent of their service points against the legend, they did something right. Unlike Raonic, who was neutralized by Federer’s return, Cilic stepped in to hit the first big ball of the rally, never giving his opponent a chance to impose his own will. Without any nerves or hesitation, he served out a straight set, 105-minute victory at love, finishing the 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win with a backhand winner down-the-line.

Yet, somehow, some resemblance of normalcy returned to the final Grand Slam of the year on Sunday, in what has been an outlier of a tennis season in general.

It’s fair to say that the first match on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday afternoon, a day that usually plays host to the men’s singles final, was not the hardest to predict. Bob & Mike Bryan, who had won 99 titles together, did lose to their opponents in the finals, Marcel Granollers & Marc Lopez, both of Spain, at the French Open in the spring, that match was on red clay, very different than the quick New York hard courts. In fact, the Bryans beat their opponents on hard courts twice last year. Was the final outcome ever in doubt.

Leaving no reason that a third major upset was on the cards, Mike knocked off the final volley in a somewhat routine 6-3, 6-4 victory.

One hundred titles together, an incredible accomplishment to say the least, just about as impressive as Serena’s performance later in the day.

Facing close friend Carline Wozniacki, who has finally changed the focus on her life from her breakup with Rory McIlroy to her tennis game, Serena was ruthless.

To put her performance in perspective, Wozniacki hit four winners in the entire match. All but one were aces, meaning that Caroline had no control of the rallies to hit the shots that she wanted hit. It was all Serena, ending the complaints of critics, who have been on her back after what has been a very un-Serena like season.

The taste that Serena left with fans is that she is more than back, not only never dropping a set in the entire tournament, but dropping a maximum of three games in a set. Just like the Serena of old, who never went away, nobody could touch her, and when she plays well, she will win.

With the win, Serena tied Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova with 18 Grand Slams, leaving fans wondering if she will be able to reach the mark of 24 set by Margaret Court. If she plays like she did at this U.S. Open, it is only a matter of time.

After Serena did what many expected her to do on Sunday, Cilic and Nishikori took the court in a match on Monday where there was really not much to expect. How many times in recent history have players outside of the top five squared off for a Grand Slam, especially in the matchup of power-serving against aggressive baselining? Not the easiest match to call, especially with Nishikori going into the cool Monday evening in New York with a 5-2 career advantage.

Truth be told, it looked like an early round match rather than a major final, with Cilic exercising his will, and Nishikori having no ability to do anything about it. For a player who rarely shows his emotions, Cilic sensed that the dream of tennis players around the globe was close to coming true, screaming after every point as he served the match out. In routine fashion, Marin Cilic won his first Grand Slam and U.S. Open title, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

In other draws around the grounds, Martina Hingis joined her partner Flavia Pennetta to reach a Grand Slam final in women’s doubles after a long hiatus, losing in the final to the team of singles semifinalist Ekaterina Makarova & Elena Vesnina.

The mixed-doubles finals held true to form, with top seeds Sania Mirza & Bruno Soares sliding through in the final, taking a final set super-tiebreaker to win the title.

With the last major in the books, many questions will be asked over the rest of the year and as the pro tour approaches the 2015 Australian Open. Will anybody rise up to challenge Serena? The topic of hotter debate may be one that pops up throughout next year.

Has the tennis world seen the end of the “Big Four?”


Andrew Eichenholz
Centercourt
USTA NTC

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