US Open Tennis 2014: Men's Final Results and Updated Singles Rankings

The tennis world saw a new major champion emerge Monday after No. 14 Marin Cilic defeated No. 10 Kei Nishikori in three sets by a score of 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 at the 2014 U.S. Open. Cilic's average first-serve speed of 124 mph proved to be too daunting of a task for the No. 10 seed to handle, as Nishikori allowed 17 aces and struggled mightily on the return.

At 6'6", Cilic displayed his raw power during the men's final. He notched 38 winners thanks to a combination of strong overheads and scorching backhands. This particular backhand winner earned the No. 14 seed a major title, via US Open Tennis:

It wasn't as though Nishikori provided a poor showing—he was simply outperformed by Cilic. Nishikori showed a great deal of fight and resilience, even when the match was far out of hand. In the third set down 4-1, he took two of the next three games before Cilic notched the win.

After the match, the No. 10 seed exuded confidence in himself going forward, via SI Tennis:

He has every right to be fully confident in himself in the future. Although he failed to emerge victorious in the end, Nishikori gained plenty of momentum after defeating the likes of No. 5 Milos Raonic, No. 3 Stan Wawrinka and No. 1 Novak Djokoivc along the way at the U.S. Open. That's an impressive feat for any player.

As for Cilic, he may have more confidence and momentum than just about anyone at this point. It was a fantastic personal effort, but the victory was immensely important for his coach and country as well. US Open Tennis tweeted the statistic:

What does this mean for both men going forward?

For one thing, each moved up significantly in the ATP men's singles rankings. Here's a look at where they currently stand:

Rank	Player	Points
1	Novak Djokovic	12,290
2	Rafael Nadal	8,670
3	Roger Federer	8,030
4	Stan Wawrinka	5,625
5	David Ferrer	4,495
6	Tomas Berdych	4,240
7	Milos Raonic	4,225
8	Kei Nishikori	3,870
9	Grigor Dimitrov	3,710
10	Andy Murray	3,150
11	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga	3,100
12	Marin Cilic	3,045

Both Nishikori and Cilic leaped several spots. This could have significant impact on this year's ATP World Tour Finals.

As we know, only the eight best players are eligible to compete in the prestigious tournament. Nishikori made his way into the top eight after surging three spots up the standings due to his stellar showing in New York. Cilic moved up a total of four spots to gain the No. 12 ranking. He's in great position to join Nishikori in the top eight by the time November rolls around should he keep up this high level of play.

We still have plenty of tournaments remaining on the season's schedule, including the Shanghai Rolex Masters, BNP Paribas Masters and more. This leaves plenty of time for the surging Nishikori and Cilic to further make their marks in 2014 before the season's finale.