Issue link: http://itf.uberflip.com/i/441551
ITFWORLD WINTER 2014 35 www.itftennis.com "He realised that with an aggressive game he could win, he did it and something clicked in his head," Ivanisevic said. From there, Cilic was unstoppable. He dismissed Tomas Berdych, he flattened Federer and then he crushed Nishikori 63 63 63. No one could quite believe what they had seen over the preceding two weeks — and no one sounded more surprised than Cilic himself. "It seems completely unreal to be called Grand Slam champion," he said. "I was dreaming about this all my life, and suddenly in the last four, five days everything started to change. I started to play absolutely unbelievable starting with the fifth set with Simon. After that I had unbelievable run of the matches against these top guys. And what it means to me? It means everything. This is just the peak of the world." In the doubles, the Bryan brothers were chasing their 100th career title and looking to extend their record of success at the Grand Slams. But like Serena, Bob and Mike had been feeling the pressure for months, never more so than when they lost 75 in the fifth set of the Wimbledon final. Back on home soil, though, they held their nerve to put away Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez 63 64. But while everyone else was rewriting history in Flushing Meadows, Martina Hingis was already a part of it. She was the youngest winner of a major title when she won the Wimbledon doubles with Helena Sukova in 1996 and here she was again 18 years later with Flavia Pennetta trying to win the US Open. Unfortunately for her, Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina had other plans and fought back to claim the silverware 26 63 62. The mixed doubles was won by Sania Mirza and Bruno Soares, who defeated Abigail Spears and Santiago Gonzalez 61 26 [11-9]. Nishikori had defied the odds to reach the final — and defied belief as he dismantled Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Kei Nishikori was the first Asian man to feature in a Grand Slam singles final Roger Federer was stunned by Marin Cilic in the semis Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina beat Flavia Pennetta and Martina Hingis in the women's doubles final Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic fell to Kei Nishikori in the last four Seventeen-year-old Belinda Bencic advanced to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal