Federer did shed some tears on the court – and on more than one occasion. However, losses were few and far between for the player who simply made the game look easy at his very best.

The star has seen it all in tennis and Federer has even played tennis 600 feet above ground level. Very little surprised him during his playing days but at the US Open in 2014, he was left stunned by a rank outsider.

What stunned Roger Federer said about Marin Cilic at the 2014 US Open

The script had been written ahead of the 2014 edition of the US Open. It was all set for a blockbuster final featuring Federer and Djokovic in another clash of two titans in their pomp.

However, Marin Cilic was never one for following scripts and someone had forgotten to show him a copy of this one as he blew Federer away in straight sets to claim a remarkable victory.

He would face Kei Nishikori in the final too. The Japanese player sent Djokovic packing to leave those with tickets for the final in 2014 perhaps somewhat underwhelmed by the participants.

After losing, Federer was full of praise for the Croatian player, however. He was quizzed on what made his performance so special and admitted to being surprised by the star player.

He said in his press conference: “I’m more surprised with Cilic, to be honest, because he’s older than Nishikori. I thin he is anyway. He’s been around longer, you know, but he’s really able to make a nice transition in the last few years in his game.

“There is a significant difference in how he plays. Whereas with Kei I always thought unbelievable talent way back when I played with him for the first time when he was 17.

“I just wasn’t quite sure that in a best of 5 set tournament, he could get all the way to the back end of the tournament. But he’s beaten, you know, myself twice already, other top guys, you know, before.

“He was destroying Rafa in the finals of Madrid. He’s shown what he can do and that’s why with Kei I’m less surprised than I am with Cilic, really.”

Cilic destroys Nishikori in US Open final

There was seemingly no chance of Cilic not taking this chance to get his hands on a major Grand Slam title, especially considering he wasn’t facing one of the game’s top stars.

Nishikori was four places higher in the rankings at the point of the final and Cilic perhaps still went into the showpiece match at Flushing Meadows as the outsider.

He won the title as a 25-year-old and has reached two further Grand Slam finals since winning the US Open; the Wimbledon final in 2017 and the Australian Open final in 2018.

Nishikori had no answer to the brilliance of Cilic on that famous occasion in 2014. He lost 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 as Cilic became the second Croatian to win a Grand Slam in the men’s event after Goran Ivanisevic.

Where is Marin Cilic ranked in 2025

At 36-years-old, Cilic is proving that he can still play this wonderful game. On Tuesday, he knocked out Alex de Minaur in the Dubai Tennis Championships to set up a clash with another Australian in Alexei Popyrin.

Cilic is ranked in a lowly 178th place in the world at the moment and hasn’t played at a Grand Slam event since losing in the first round of the Australian Open in 2024.

The experienced performer missed out on all four Grand Slams during 2023 and it remains to be seen whether or not he can stay fit enough to even be in contention for the remaining three in 2025.

Cilic has defied the odds before during his career and perhaps the good form he’s clearly showcased this week can give him the encouragement to cling on to his career for a little while longer.