After defeating Federer in semi, No. 14 Marin Cilic wins U.S. Open title

NEW YORK – On the men's side, the first half of the U.S. Open was fairly routine. The Americans lost, the top seeds advanced. Only two top 20 seeds were knocked out before the fourth round, while the women's draw was overflowing with upsets.

The second week, however, was quite the opposite. The women's top seed, Serena Williams, won her 18th Grand Slam title. And when the men's tournament ended on Monday night, it was 14th seed Marin Cilic taking home the trophy with a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 upset over No. 10 Kei Nishikori.

As his dream became reality, Cilic, 25, fell to the ground and held his hands together, looking up to the sky. Moments later, he looked to the stands, seemingly stunned. He shook Nishikori's hand at the net, then ran up to his player's box to hug family and friends. Compared to the veteran champions, he seemed unsure what to do once he sat back in his chair. There, he picked up his phone and tried to call his family in Croatia. Only his younger brother, who recently started college in the United States, was at the match.

The win was the culmination of a surprising second week. The women's draw is known for upsets. The men's though, rarely sees so many in one fortnight. Either Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, or Rafeal Nadal (or two of the three) has played in every Grand Slam final since the 2005 Australian Open. One of those three won all but four of those titles, too. But this year, after 38 slams, came a new chapter.

On one side, Nishikori knocked out fifth seed Milos Raonic in a third-round marathon that lasted until 2:26 a.m ET. Then came another five-set upset over 3rd seed Stan Wawrinka. Surely, everyone thought, he'd meet his match in No. 1 Novak Djokovic, but instead he knocked out the top seed in four sets, becoming the first Japanese man to ever advance to a major singles final.

On the other side, Cilic faced his first true test in the quarterfinals, where he needed five sets to knock out No. 6 Tomas Berdych. Then came his defining moment: Cilic took down the man who has won more Grand Slam titles than any other in history, the once-untouchable Federer. Like Nishikori, Cilic looked like the more experienced player in his semifinal match, pulling off a straight-sets win over the legend. He hadn't dropped a set in the quarters or semis.

And so, the stage was set for a U.S. Open final featuring two first-time Slam finalists.The last time two first-time finalists faced off was at Roland Garros in 2005, when Rafael Nadal won his first major title.

In previous meetings, Nishikori held a 5-2 advantage. That included splitting U.S. Open matches in 2010 and 2012. Coming into Monday's final, Nishikori had held serve in 89 percent of his games while breaking opponents 28 times; Cilic had held in 90 percent, while breaking 23 times.

Nishikori had saved 79 percent of the break points he faced, compared to Cilic's 65 percent. Cilic's strongest asset was his first serve, as he racked up 81 aces to that point. Though he had only 30 aces, Nishikori had faced, and beaten, other dominant servers in Raonic and Wawrinka.

But on Monday, Cilic's huge serve was too much. He served 17 aces and won 80 percent of his first-serve points as he tore through the straight-sets win. His fastest serve registered at 134 mph, beating his previous tournament-best of 132. Nishikori managed only one break in the one-hour, 54-minute match, while Cilic broke him five times.

"I was a little bit tight and nervous, you know, playing [in my] first final," Nishikori said. "But, you know, to get this experience [is] gonna help for this season and next season, too."

"It was a really fun two weeks here," Cilic said immediately after the win. "I hope I can be coming back next year."

"Everything I was working for and dreaming, it came true today," he added.

The last time that a Croat took home the title was in 2001, when Cilic's coach, Goran Ivanisevic, won Wimbledon. Cilic remembers the moment clearly – he watched the match during a youth tennis camp.

"We were, you know, many kids just glued to TV and watching, jumping around. It was absolutely huge celebration in Croatia," he recalled. Monday, his godfather told him, was a similar scene.

"He told me that I cannot imagine how it is like everybody celebrating. Everybody was glued to the TVs. He was like, 'I mean, World Cup atmosphere all over Croatia.'" Cilic said. "I think it's a special day for me, but extremely special day for all of Croatia."

Upon returning home, Ivanisevic stripped off his clothes and ran into the sea, another reporter reminded Cilic. Will he try to top that?

"No," he said, laughing. He is already back to business. "I'm going for Davis Cup."

But first, he'll have to wait for reality to set in.

"I mean, [it] seems completely unreal to be called Grand Slam champion. I was dreaming about this all my life, and suddenly last four, five days everything started to change. And with my tennis especially," he said. "So this is just the peak of the world."