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Surprise package
At the beginning of the US Open, the bookmakers didn't even offer odds on a Cilic-Nishikori final. According to some sources, the odds would have been 5000-1! And so it was on a calm Monday evening in New York that the 100-1 odds Marin Cilic became Croatia's first 'right-handed' Grand Slam men's singles champion (the other – his Coach Goran Invanisevic).
If his straightforward, routine, unrealistic dismantling of a 17-time Grand Slam champion was considered a once-in-a-lifetime moment, the tennis world had another wind coming from the 6'6" Croat.
Wait for an Asian Grand Slam champion continues
At the other end of the net lay the hopes of the most populated continent never to have a men's Grand Slam champion. Maybe the 'key' lay with Kei.
Kei Nishikori had played only one tournament since Wimbledon, and after a surgery to remove a cyst from his right foot was contemplating on whether to play the US Open or not. His new coach, Michael Chang, talked him into giving it an honest shot. And Nishikori shot his way through three top-10 players, two of them Grand Slam winners, and a certain world No. 1! Considering the overall scenario he should have been the favorite, the higher ranked player, and with a 5-2 record against his opponent.
But Cilic had a newfound calming effect on his game – his coach Ivanisevic. The same 'enigmatic Goran' who 13 years earlier wanted the same ball back to serve for 'The Championships' against Pat Rafter.
Tennis, as in life, works in mysterious ways. Last year Cilic had 351 aces throughout the year. This year, with a more compact action (650 aces and counting), he has given hope to another generation of tennis players with his signature shot – the crosscourt backhand. Just like that, Marin Cilic has become a Grand Slam champion.
Enjoy what you are doing
Most importantly, what Cilic said during the trophy presentation brings to perspective what tennis, sports, or life in general is all about.
"I think this is all hard work in these last several years," Cilic said in his on-court interview. "Most important of all the thing [Ivanisevic] brought to me was joy in tennis, always having fun. Everyday with [Ivanisevic] is extremely fun. I feel that the fun is the best spice of everything. It is what brings all the pieces together.”
That is what it is all about, isn't it? Having 'fun' at what you're doing, and hope it all works out for the best in the end.
We will remember the Grand Slam Champion Marin Cilic, but we won't forget the efforts of a certain Kei Nishikori. Tennis can look forward to a 'bigger' and 'brighter' future in 2015.
