Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/441551
34 ITFWORLD WINTER 2014 Just a matter of weeks before the Open began, Nishikori had an operation to remove a cyst from his toe. It was not major surgery but the timing of it wiped out any chance he had of preparing properly. He was only able to play practice points in the week before the tournament began but, encouraged by his coach, Michael Chang, to give the first round a try and see what happened from there, the diminutive Japanese started running. Nipping through the first three rounds without dropping a set, he chased and scampered and scurried for more than four hours to get past Milos Raonic in the fourth round, and repeated the feat — another five sets and almost five hours this time — to beat Stan Wawrinka before he overcame the heat, the humidity and a fractious world No. 1 in the semifinal. But standing on the other side of the net in the final was Cilic, another man who had seized the moment in New York. All the serial champions, bar Roger Federer, had been arranged on the other side of the draw (Rafael Nadal was absent with a wrist injury), leaving anyone in the bottom half with a hint of a chance. Even so, Cilic, for all his strength, his talent and that thundering serve, had only once before reached a Grand Slam semifinal — and that was four years previously. With his career in the doldrums in 2013 after his anti-doping suspension, the tall Croat turned to his boyhood hero, Goran Ivanisevic, for help. Ivanisevic reworked the Cilic serve, taught him how to use it and when, and then set about lifting his charge's spirits and restoring his confidence. When he watched Cilic fight for all he was worth to beat Gilles Simon in the fourth round (he had never beaten the Frenchman before), Ivanisevic knew that his man was ready to win the title. When Williams faced one of her closest friends in the final, she was ruthless, walloping Caroline Wozniacki 63 63. US OPEN 2013 runner-up Victoria Azarenka reached the quarterfinals Gael Monfils had a good run to the last eight The Bryans notched up their 100th title win Caroline Wozniacki was also runner-up at the US Open in 2009 Peng Shuai reached her first major semifinal before retiring due to heat illness