‘Fearless’ Croatian takes it all!
In the decade, finals of Tennis majors always featured one of the four ‘big names’ that of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal or Andy Murray. US-Open 2014 is the first event in a long time not to have ‘big names’ in the finals. Two players broke the ice – Croatian, Marin Cilic and Japanese Kei Nishikori. A remarkable feat considering the grip the ‘big four’ had on the game even up to US-Open semi-finals. Roger Federer lost to Cilic in the semi-finals and described him as ‘fearless’. In the quarters, semis and in the finals Marin Cilic was awesome.
Cilic was unstoppable
Cilic’s performance gives very little room to doubt his ability to play great Tennis and to be the world’s best in the foreseeable future. Literally, he demolished Berdych, Federer and Nishikori to win the title. He does everything at a speed and with deadly effect. It was impossible to outpace him. His clean and effective stroke making makes him an appealing player to watch. His excellent reactions need very little time to play a full fledged stroke from anywhere, this assures ball-control.
The punishing forehand of his nearly reached his service speed of 130 miles per hour, and will very soon be the most talked about stroke of the game. Cilic’s weaknesses are ‘situational’ so it is not easy to get him into errors unless his opponents have the ability to create those situations with combinations of shots. Only very good opponents can achieve this difficult task. Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori did that but could not
Marin Cilic
sustain it to compile a game. Such maneuvers appear only in the final chapters of Tennis tactics. On the other hand 6 foot 6 inches tall Cilic did whatever he wanted and was unstoppable. In the second set Cilic broke Nishikori’s service three times – not something one expects in a Grand-Slam final.
Toughest opponent was Gilles Simon
The match that went without much mention is the 4th round encounter of Cilic against Frenchman Gilles Simon. Frenchman took Cilic to five sets. Cilic had to win 175 points to beat Simon. They played nearly 350 points in the five sets and were the toughest sets Cilic played. [Cilic won the Finals winning less than 95 points] Simon’s match put Cilic’s Tennis into a winning form. Few good early round matches can take a player to the peak-zone than best practice for months. Cilic also has the assistance of fellow Croatian and Wimbledon Champion Goran Ivanisevic as his coach. Winning the US-Open title means another ‘prince in waiting’ has appeared in the change of guards line-up of men’s top ten in 2014 ranking – Marin Cilic.
Women’s- Williams,
Wozniacki finals
Unexpectedly this match was not very exciting as it should have been. These two great players showed tiredness and anxiety. This combination does not take players to play their best. Serena Williams has not performed well this year. For her the 18th Grand Slam title has been elusive and wanted it badly to tie-up with fellow Americans Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. Wozniacki on the other hand has been in a Grand Slam finals only once before in 2009. She too wanted to win badly. In the finals both lost their services too many times. Wozniacki’s game showed no change right up to the end. Not 
changing a losing game is a ‘sin’ in Tennis. She is good at net and got a point every time she went up. Just that she did that just four times in the entire match. She played big Tennis till the semi-finals but failed in the finals to repeat the winning game. It is difficult to appraise a player when they are up against an opponent as good as Serena. In that match Serena was not at her best either but made it memorable getting her 6th US-Open title by winning 13 out her 15 points at net, converting five out her ten break-points. Both players had their service department well below the necessary 70% mark. For the Americans, the good news is, USA had a singles winner.
Big past player-coaches
In the semi-finals of the US-Open all four men had past players as their coaches. Winner Cilic had Goran Ivanisevic, Kei Nishikori had Micheal Chang, Roger Federer had Stephan Edberg and Novak Djokovic had Borris Becker. This trend has caught on well. When the match begins coaches must not be a distraction to the players. In reality they cannot change an outcome seated on the sidelines. These four past players played their role well. Being past players they knew their role and primarily coached their players in situational tactics during preparation. Possessing and having proved their ability, past player coaches play a big role in the preparation of players. Their presence in the event is just to do the reading for the future coaching sessions. Past player-coaches do not work with the players round the year but a set number of weeks and entirely on the ‘game making’ aspects.
Players and the game
It is easy and entertaining to sit in the comfort of the drawing room and measure a player as I do now. Out there players have to take the grind of the international circuit from January till November. They travel to every continent and play at times when they should be sleeping and perform at peak physical levels to accommodate 130mph ball speed. Not all courts are covered. This makes players to take 10 degree cold and sometimes scorching 45 degree heat. Often they have to perform amidst partisan crowds and celebrate victory with all but defeats alone. In ecstasy and pain they watch their ranking going up and down. Transition of their life from private to public domain is stressful for young players. All these means for those who play in the international circuit ‘Tennis’ is not the only thing they have to tackle. Having experienced some of this, I am amazed at the capacity these players exhibit and I wonder who has the right to measure any player in any sport? If not for them the game will not exist!
A unique US-Open
As an event the US-Open of 2014 was unique but USA has a major task ahead. America is asking, where are their Tennis players? Thirty three year old Serena Williams is the lonely player of prominence they have right now. Using Roger Federer’s observation of Marin Cilic, it would be appropriate to name Serena Williams to be fearless to perform and dedicated to sustain her Tennis among women. Bryan brothers too regained their doubles title this year. They will have to be reckoned as one of the best the game has seen in doubles. The last of the Grand Slams for this year is now over. The interest now shifts to the lineup for the men’s Masters in London and the Women’s WTA finals in Singapore.
-George Paldano, former international player; Accredited Coach of Germany, ITF and USPTR; National, Davis Cup and Federation Cup Coach–gptennis.ceylon@gmail.com-