What's the reason why Cilic played so well in USO?

The same reason as Nadal played so well in 2010 US Open.

Both will remain great unsolved mysteries of our time.

MarkChan said:

He has not even won a tournament above 250 level before.
Also, he played very poorly right after US Open.

So how come he plays so well suddenly in US Open? He played so different from his usual level (before or after USO).

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It was not suddenly, 'cause he has been stopped by Djokovic in Wimb QF 5-sets and RG R32 4-sets.

Since USO draw was rigged for Federer they thought that Cilic was again to lose it to someone like Simon in five or be an easy opponent in SF, but he won over Simon and had a plenty of energy left for SF against tired Federer who needed five sets against Monfils in QF and played finals of both Toronto and Cinci beating Cilic 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 6-4 in Toronto R16 .

I think first of all, this court really suits his game. He can play very fast, very agressive on this court.I noticed that in 2009, the march against Del potro, I think he got the upper hand but unluckly he didn't have that mental toughness to win these matches at that time.

I think he is a more talented player than Del potro.

Also, I think he is a big match player who can bring his best tennis in most important stages, although it seems he doesn't show enough consistency to play well whole year.

Mr. President said:

The same reason as Nadal played so well in 2010 US Open.

Both will remain great unsolved mysteries of our time.

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Rafa won RG and Wimbledon the same year before USO. But nothing Cilic before USO foresaw his USO win. Strange.

If you say Wawrinka is a surprise winner, at least he pushed Djokovic to 5th set the year before on the same court. (Should have won it if the linesman called the ball correctly and Djokovic didn't lie to him that the ball was out at 4-4 40-adv 5th set)

doubletrollt said:

He has been stopped by Djokovic in Wimb QF 5-sets and RG R32 4-sets.

Since USO draw was rigged for Federer they thought that Cilic was again to lose it to Simon in five or be an easy opponent in SF, but he won over Simon and had a plenty of energy for SF against tired Federer.

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if u think pushing Djokovic who choked many bps that match to 5th set on grass is a sign that he would win USO, congra bro you are godlike in tennis prediction.

And 4-setter is very common in tennis, not to mention vven Gulbis who played very badly could do that against Djokovic.

Others didn't?

Well, it's not like he played great the whole tournament. His best match was certainly against Federer in the SF. He played very well in the final (especially given it was his first major final), but Nishikori was a spent force there. Berdych played horrible in the QF and Simon almost beat him in R4. I didn't watch him in round 1-3.

I think it was a combination of fluke/weak field and maybe a little help from Goran.

Great performances at the most important tournaments of the year which happen, coincidentally, in a short timespan of 3 months?

What a mistery!

Why don't you just say Doping for option 5 or have only 4 options because it's obvious that's what you mean. And a lot of people seem to agree with you. I think the draw just came together for him and he beat two players that were more tired than him in the SF and F.

IMO Cilic played his ordinary game, with improvements on service line, thanks to Goran - he was firing aces like a mad man, in big moments he could count on his serve. But this time he didn't choke in any of his matches and every match was on his racquet. Also that tough win over Simon after very good quality match could gave him a boost of confidence. So I think the biggest change happened in his mind.
Also at previous slams there were signs of his good game, but on his way was Djokovic. Of course Novak was deserved winner in these matches, but Chila had his moments.

booson said:

Great performances at the most important tournaments of the year which happen, coincidentally, in a short timespan of 3 months?

What a mistery!

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It is only one tournament that he played well. He didn't reach further than QF in the two masters before US Open and lost to Robredo in straight sets in Umag in July. After US open he lost in Beijing to Murray in QF and then losing to Karlovic in his openning round in Shanghai. In WTF he was back to normal and was 0-3 in Round Robin taking little games every match.

Strange.

SERVivor said:

Why don't you just say Doping for option 5 or have only 4 options because it's obvious that's what you mean. And a lot of people seem to agree with you. I think the draw just came together for him and he beat two players that were more tired than him in the SF and F.

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I don't understand what you mean.

Combination of he played great vs Fed and te whole field sucked. Lets be honest. Nole played his normal self till he met Kei.
Federer the same till he met Gael.
No Rafa, No del Potro. Murray never had a good tournament until post USOpen.
Stan, Ferrer and Berdych inconsistent.

THIS: Good Technological and Medical Support from His Team (massage or pills like vitamin and so on)

LOL

I voted the last one. Sure his mother doing all those pharmacy visits helped.

DWade said:

THIS: Good Technological and Medical Support from His Team (massage or pills like vitamin and so on)

LOL

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Professional sports is never a one-man sports. You always need some external help, such as a gd coach, a gd trainer, and the increasingly important doctors, who make the athlete perform beyond his limit.

He was just on fire :shrug:. Playing his usual aggressive game but was lucky enough to not make very many errors while doing it. He almost certainly will never play that well again (over the course of an entire tournament).

For me one of the biggest reasons Ćilić played so well at US Open was a speedy surface, much faster than anything he played on for the rest of the season.

His shots were much more penetrating then on slower surface. Also, he got a feel for a serve, gained a boost in confidence because of it, and that was it. In rest of the season, surface was to slow for him to build us a rythm on serve.

It's not as if he has never played that well before, just not in a row when it mattered the most. Plus, it's obvious how Goran influenced his game. First serve is far better now, FH is less error prone.

MrMarble said:

I voted the last one. Sure his mother doing all those pharmacy visits helped.

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Those must be super special wonder pills, making one hit winners all over the place