A year ago, Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori arrived at the U.S. Open to little fanfare and without much in the way of expectations.
Neither had reached a Grand Slam final, let alone won a title. They could boast of one semifinal in 48 total appearances at majors — Cilic lost in that round at the 2010 Australian Open. Nishikori, meanwhile, only once had reached the quarterfinals at a major. Nishikori was seeded 10th, Cilic 14th.
And after two weeks of terrific tennis and breakthrough semifinal victories over Novak Djokovic (by Nishikori) and Roger Federer (by Cilic), there they were, meeting for the championship.