Marin Cilic is widely considered one of the big hitters of the game. Turning pro in 2005, the Croatian has proven to be a tough competition for his opponents. With his heavy serves and powerful groundstrokes, the 33-year-old has been one of the dominant players in the game.

In his close to a two-decade-long carer, Cilic has reached a career-high ranking of World No. 3. To date, the Croatian powerhouse has a total of 20 Singles titles to his name. Apart from that, he has also been a runner-up on 15 occasions. However, walking down the memory lane, a question that arises is whether Cilic has even won a Grand Slam?

Yes!! The current World No. 22 is a Grand Slam champion, winning the US Open in 2014. He is one of the very few players who have managed to win a Major in an era completely dominated by the ‘Big 3’.

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Revisiting the 2014 US Open title triumph of Marin Cilic

Suffering third round exits in Toronto and Cincinnati, Cilic entered the Flushing Meadows as the 14th seed. He started his campaign with a comfortable win over Marcos Baghdatis as the latter retired mid-match. He cruised through his second-round encounter, beating Illya Marchenko 7-6, 6-2, 6-4.

In the third round, Cilic played his first four-set match of the tournament against 18th seeded Kevin Anderson. The South African gave a close fight to Cilic in the initial two sets. However, Cilic raised his game, facing no difficulty in beating Anderson in four sets.

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Winning the first three matches quite comfortably, it was in the fourth round that Cilic played his first challenging match. He played the in-form 26th seed, Gilles Simon. Losing the first set to the Frenchman, Cilic held his nerves, winning the second set in tiebreaker. Maintaining his composure, Cilic went on to win the third set. Simon won the fourth set to push the clash into a deciding set. However, displaying resilience, Croat managed to win the deciding set and subsequently set a mouth-watering clash against Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinal.

The later rounds of Cilic’s iconic win

Winning the first four rounds, Cilic was now in the quarterfinals of the 2014 US Open. In the quarterfinals, Cilic played the Czech sensation Tomas Berdych. World No.7 back then, Berdych was one of the most consistent players in his prime. However, Cilic produced a clinical performance to beat Berdych in straight sets in New York.

In the semifinals, Cilic was up against none other than the Swiss maestro, Roger Federer. As he always was during his prime, Roger Federer was amongst the strong favorites to win the US Open. However, eyeing his maiden title win, Cilic showed no mercy in beating the then World No. 2 in straight sets.

Into his first-ever Major final, Cilic played the 10th seed, Kei Nishikori. In the title clash, Cilic came with all guns blazing, beating the Japanese in straight sets to win the biggest title of his career.

Statistically, with five title triumphs, 2014 has been the most successful year in terms of title victories of Cilic’s career.

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At the present time, Cilic had a decent start to the 2022 season. However, he has been struggling to find form since Dubai. He last played at the Monte Carlo masters, suffering a second-round exit.