NEW YORK—This U.S. Open has been an excellent one for pros who dwell in the shadows or, as Ekaterina Makarova said, “in the shade.” These are the consistently good but chronically overlooked players. The un-quotables. The gifted but undemonstrative. The ones who are just going about their business, often with a fierce intensity that is unremarked upon, and never quite punching through.
Some, like Makarova, are very shy. Some, like Peng Shuai, are on the far side of an enormous linguistic and/or cultural gulf. Yet others are brooding and introspective, or merely reticent, while some just don’t want to be in the limelight all that badly.
Two of the more successful shadow dwellers met in the men's quarterfinals, and I have a funny feeling you know I’m not talking about Roger Federer and Gael Monfils. It was Marin Cilic and Tomas Berdych, two imposing players who have the ability to hit anyone off the court. It’s a facility each of them exercises often enough to be ranked highly, if not with sufficient self-assurance to topple the very best players, except on rare occasions.
The outcome when these two are thrown together is difficult to predict. Before today, Berdych was ahead in their rivalry, 5-3. Most recently, Cilic dealt Berdych a severe blow at Wimbledon, where he eliminated him in straight sets. Then there are the physical similarities. Berdych, from the Czech Republic and seeded No. 6, is 6'5" and 200 lbs.; Cilic, from Croatia and seeded No. 14, is an inch taller, five pounds heavier.
All other things being equal, a match between these two is like banging together two comparable hunks of granite. Who knows which one is going to break first?
Some of you might object to Berdych being characterized as a player cloaked in obscurity, but let’s face it—
the world isn’t exactly over-stocked with his fans. How often have we heard crowds chanting his name? Among his fellow Top 10 regulars, he’s the one whose image is the least developed.
Cilic is a quiet one, too. But unlike Berdych, his status as a man outside of the spotlight has also been shaped by a peak-and-valley history in the game. He’s still just 25 (Berdych is 28), yet Cilic hit his career-high ranking of No. 9 more than four years ago. He’s been bothered by a bum knee, and he was suspended for four months during the second half of 2013 for a doping violation.
Cilic, a flamethrower on the court, also has been criticized for thinking and analyzing the game more than he should. But Cilic is on the upswing again, thanks partly to the help he’s getting from one of the “champion coach” set, fellow Croatian and former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic.
