The 6th of September, 2014 seems like a pretty innocuous date, doesn’t it? Well, in the world of men’s tennis, it may prove to be a crucial one. It was semi-final day at the US Open, and Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic were widely expected to sweep away their opposition and contest a repeat of this year’s Wimbledon Final.
But they didn’t.
Instead, Kei Nishikori of Japan and Marin Cilic of Croatia produced shock wins against their illustrious opponents. Premature is this may sound (and my tennis predictions are often wildly inaccurate), Saturday night almost felt like a changing of the guard. Tonight, one of these men will be a Grand Slam winner for the very first time.
So, who’s going to taste glory at a major for the first time this evening (tomorrow morning, for us unlucky Brits)? Sorry to put the mockers on him, but I can’t see past Marin Cilic. He has been a man re-born this year, with excellent performances in the last few months, including an impressive run at Wimbledon and now his breakthrough in New York.
Predicting Cilic of course means that Nishikori will win tonight. That said, he has had to endure three marathon matches in the last seven days, seeing off Milos Raonic and Stanislas Wawrinka in five sets, before beating the human elastic band that is Novak Djokovic. However, he spent over 11 hours on court in those three matches, and must surely be on his last legs.
Whoever wins tonight, what does the future hold for men’s tennis?
It must be noted that Rafael Nadal has missed this tournament with injury, while Andy Murray’s back continues to be as troublesome as Mario Balotelli and Joey Barton in a confined space. Both men should be back to their best and challenging for the biggest prizes soon enough.
By contrast, Roger Federer’s career now resembles my train into work; moving incredibly smoothly one moment, but enduring a frustrating halt the next. As for Novak, he is not as dominant as he was in 2011, but he remains a potent force.
But those in the chasing pack are getting closer.
Wawrinka himself won the Australian Open in January, becoming the first man who ISN’T called Novak, Andy, Roger or Rafael to win a major tournament since Juan Martin Del Potro in 2009. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is starting to find form again, while the likes of Gael Monfils and Grigor Dimitrov continue to be mercurial talents. At the same time, David Ferrer is like the wasp at a particular pleasant picnic. No matter how many times he disappears, he keeps coming back.
But talk of a new era of men’s tennis still seems a wee bit premature. Let’s just enjoy tonight, and see if Cilic or Nishikori can kick-start careers which have promised much but, as yet, delivered nothing. It may feel like the tennis landscape is changing, but let’s not forget that this is the first men’s final which HASN’T included Djokovic, Nadal or Federer since 2005, when the first X-Factor’s Steve Brookstein was in the charts.
Tonight is a very rare occurrence indeed. You could say it is ‘against all odds’. Sorry.
