Tennis Forever

[JamesDap]

Was too busy with family engagements to even catch the highlights until now. I think Cilic, if he can keep his head together, has a fair shot at the title, notwithstanding his unfavourable H2H against Nishikori. His groundstrokes are clean and massive (on both wings) and of course his serve is imposing. Perfect game for this surface. While Fed made his characteristic federrors, even on points he played decently, Cilic seemed to overpower him. Shades of the Del Potro final there. Nishikori is also an exciting player though. Should be an interesting match. First 'Big Four-mukt' Grand Slam final since Australian Open 2005.

[omega]

What a great break through for both Nishikori & Cilic.
Both have played incredibly well the past two weeks.
The way Cilic has powered thru' his QF & SF matches gives him the slight edge.
If Cilic even has a slight dip in his serves then Nishi could easily see off him in the final.
Very happy for both these players. Seems like the Big 4 domination is almost over...

[venkkiram]

Here is a final without top 4 seeds but well deserved. I still go with Nishi who is ready to give yet another aggressive game. The only drawback he has right now is the first serve quality. If he manages it during the initial sets then he has the upper edge. Cilic on the other side looks pretty confident on all departments.

[venkkiram]

This USO season 2014 is something unforgettable for 2 main reasons for me.

1) Nishi - first Asian (in our generation) - ability he shown to claim up the ladder with a never give up attitude. Winning or loosing does not matter. He sure entertains you with aggressive rallies.

2) Wozniaki - the girl who we thought never comeback. Disproved everyone by showing excellent ground strokes, baseline winners and classy rallies. I never seen so far any woman consistently played in a single season with such a class. An unique player. Combination of Djoko and Nadal.

I wish these two continue maintaining the same spirit in coming tournaments. A healthy change on both the categories.

[JamesDap]

Wozniacki got all the way to the finals by doing something very fundamental that used to be taken for granted earlier in the WTA but which her rivals, barring of course Serena, utterly failed to do this US Open - play good solid tennis with an emphasis on putting the ball in. These days the women try too hard to strike outright winners from the baseline which usually results in a mountain of UEs. In windy conditions, Wozniacki got the percentages right and deserved to be a runner up for the discipline and patience she showed.

[JamesDap]

Match was over by the time I got up. Had hoped for a tough one for personal reasons and also to silence those voices claiming this final line up was a damp squib in the absence of the big four. Anyway, congrats to Cilic. He just had the bigger game and from what I read Nishikori was too exhausted to counter him.

[venkkiram]

Arvind.. how was your day at Ashes? Hope it was a memorable experience!

[Arvind Srinivasan]

I had a great time over there. Was a little apprehensive about the view I would get from my seat. But it was good. The atmosphere was excellent. As far as the match was concerned, Cilic simply out powered an already battered and bruised Nishikori. And Cilic's game was almost robotic. Other than attempting low percentage shots and playing a tad more aggresively than usual, there was very little Nishikori could do.

[venkkiram]

While going to Ashes expecting match would long for 4 or 5 sets, it would finish by 3 straight sets. When I went there first time on 2012 Women's final, I thought Serena would trash any opponent by straight 2 sets and would be hardly 1 hour duration we would sit in the gallery but that particular match went for 3 sets with lot of suspense elements till the last moment. So, Ashes has lot of surprise treats for the first time visitors.

[Arvind Srinivasan]

^ I was expecting no more than 3-4 sets actually. That Marin would come up trumps if Kei didn't up his game quickly was pretty apparent right at the early stages of the match. Really lights out tennis from Marin both today and against Roger.