Kei Nishikori to face Marin Cilic in U.S. Open final

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For the first time in nearly a decade, the men's final at a Grand Slam will not feature any one of the so-called Big Four.

Japan's Kei Nishikora and Croatia's Marin Cilic pulled huge upsets on Saturday, and will face each other in the U.S. Open final on Monday. It's the major tournament final debut for both men.

Could this be the end of the dominant run shared by Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray?

Between them, those four men shared 36 of the previous 38 Gran Slam titles, stretching back to early 2005. Only Juan Martin Del Potro ('09 U.S. Open) and Stan Wawrinka ('14 Australian) interrupted their run.

"I think today was the best performance of my career," Cilic said after emphatically routing Federer 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

In the final game, the Croatian served three aces, while the Swiss legend stood around looking baffled. It really did feel like a great wind of change. At least for now.

If it's a small victory for parity in men's tennis, it's a bit of a disaster for this year's U.S. Open. Tennis's television ratings have been declining throughout the United States since American influence on the sport receded. Organizers here will have been pulling hard for a Federer/Djokovic final.

Instead, they get two relative unknowns going head-to-head on Monday night against the NFL. This could very easily be the lowest rated U.S. Open final in history.

But that's why they play the matches.

Cilic, a towering man with a just sub-supersonic serve, put Federer ill at ease from the outset. The return game seemed to desert the consensus greatest player of all time. Late in his career, the Swiss has become something of an escape artist. He proved on Saturday how risky that strategy is.

Federer was able to pull back two match points in the semi-final against Gael Monfils, a notoriously jumpy player. Unlike Monfils, Cilic wasn't willing to fold up his tent based on reputations.

As it became apparent that Federer wasn't playing possum, the capacity audience began to turn against the Croatian. They cheered his misses more loudly than his winners. The tennis crowd lives in hope of seeing one of those classic finals the Big Four have often combined for. They'll have to settle for the combination of Cilic's largely immobile power game against Nishikori's cunning and quickness.

Cilic's win was unexpected, but it came against an opponent who has proven more and more vulnerable in recent years. Federer hasn't taken a major since Wimbledon in 2012, and hasn't won here at Flushing Meadows in six years.

Nishikori's victory came out of nowhere. A few weeks ago, the Japanese wasn't even supposed to be in the tournament, as he recovered from a toe injury.

Asked after his Saturday's victory what he had expected from this tournament, Nishikori said, "Almost nothing."

He skipped the hardcourt season to recover. That may have been a temporarily disguised blessing.

Nishikori has played 14 sets in the last six days, including an epic five-setter that put Canada's Milos Raonic out of the tournament.

Playing in the early afternoon in blistering heat and humidity, and despite his recent trials, Nishikori looked far fresher than Djokovic, the world number one. While the two pros played in Arthur Ashe Stadium, several junior games being played on outer courts were ending in retirements due to heat illness.

Nonetheless, Nishikori simply outplayed Djokovic in every facet, winning 6-4, 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-3.

"What can I say? Other than that second set, my game wasn't anywhere close to where I wanted to be," Djokovic said. "I wasn't myself."

Nishikori becomes the first Asian man to make the final of a Grand Slam. Cilic is the first Croatian to do so since his current coach, Goran Ivanisevic, made the finals of Wimbledon as a wild-card qualifier.

In all likelihood, this is a temporary blip in the established order.

Nadal had to drop out of this tournament because of a wrist injury. Murray is still struggling with a variety of ailments. Djokovic was undone on the day by a combination of rarely seen ineptitude and the heat. Federer is simply too slick to fade away yet.

Those four will still win major tournaments next year and beyond.

But what this will certainly do is embolden the players who lie just behind them, men like Raonic and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.

For an incredibly long time, the fans weren't the only ones who expected a familiar pairing in every men's final. The players simply accepted it as well.

That aura of invincibility arrived here looking shaky. It died out on the moist centre court on Saturday.

The Big Four will doubtless go on to make more history together, but the intimidating certainty of the Big Four Era is over.

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