A fairytale dies: Nishikori’s historic run ends in U.S. Open final

It was a bridge too far for Japan’s Kei Nishikori as Croatia’s Marin Cilic crushed him 6-3 6-3 6-3 to win the U.S. Open on Monday. Cilic overwhelmed a weary Nishikori in one hour, 54 minutes to clinch a ruthless victory and deny his 10th-seeded opponent’s bid to become the first man from Asia to win a grand slam. The 24-year-old Nishikori had defeated three of the top five seeds, including world number one Novak Djokovic, on his way to the final. With the win, Cilic becomes the first Croatian to win one of the sport’s four grand slam championships since 2001.

Played too (much) tennis on the court these two weeks. Couldn’t fight one more match. Sorry I couldn’t get a trophy today, but for sure, next time.

Japan’s Kei Nishikori

He started the U.S. Open unsure if he could win any matches. The 10th-seeded Nishikori missed tuneup events before the tournament because of a severely infected right big toe. Instead of an early exit, he reached his first Grand Slam semifinal, and then won that match, too. ”There are so many positive things you can get from these two weeks,” he said. Among those is the growing interest in tennis back home in Japan. In Nishikori’s hometown of Matsue, over 800 fans packed into a convention hall to cheer on their hero at a standing room-only public viewing event.

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