It will be Japan versus Croatia for the championship match at the US Open 2014. First-time Grand Slam finalists Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic will face each other for the prestigious title match that is scheduled to take place on September 8, 2014 (EST).
Cilic surprised the crowd with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Federer. “It's fairly simple, I think: Marin played great and I maybe didn't catch my best day,'' Federer said after the 1-hour, 45-minute match. “That's pretty much it, in a nut shell.” While Nishikori sealed a spot in the championship bout with a 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3 win against Djokovic.
Everyone was rooting for No. 2-seeded player Roger Federer and No.1-seeded player Novak Djokovic to face each other for the championship title, but things took an unexpected turn when Nishikori (No. 10) and Cilic (No. 14) each snagged a victory during the semi finals.
Both wins mark a very important milestone in tennis history. For Croatia, Cilic will be the first man from Croatia to get this far at a major since his coach, Goran Ivanisevic, won Wimbledon in 2001. As for Japan, Nishikori is the first man from his country to reach a Grand Slam semi-final since 1993.
Nishikori cannot hide his excitement and joy after winning the match “I’m very happy to make history,” he said “I didn't even know if I should come to New York, so I wasn't expecting nothing, actually.'' he added. One more thing that made the 24-year old Japanese tennis player’s match more impressive is that just weeks ago, Nishikori was practicing his swings while seated due to cyst he had removed from the bottom of his right foot in August.
Meanwhile, 25-year old, Cilic who was forced to take a rest after testing positive for a stimulant, made a huge comeback with this win against Federer. He took this time of suspension into good use by practicing his swings and serves.
Federer shows good sportsmanship and said, “It's exciting for the game to have different faces from time to time, it's definitely refreshing to some extent. It's big for Croatia; it's big for Japan.”
Watch as both athletes bring pride and glory to their countries on September 8, 2014 (EST).
