He won't say it's a changing of the guard, but Marin Cilic credits grand slam gatecrasher Stanislas Wawrinka for paving the way for one of the most improbable US Open finals in major tennis history.
Cilic will play Japanese giant killer Kei Nishikori in the $US3 million ($A3.25 million) championship showdown on Monday (7am Tuesday AEST) after the unfancied pair engineered monumental upsets on an extraordinary Saturday afternoon at Flushing Meadows.
Nishikori overcame stifling heat and humidity and unnerving winds to triumph 6-4 1-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 over world No.1 Novak Djokovic and become the first Asian man ever to reach a grand slam final.
Cilic then played the match of his life to sweep past second-seeded Federer 6-3 6-4 6-4 in a second semi-final boilover that left fans shellshocked at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The showpiece final will be the first grand slam decider not featuring Federer, Rafael Nadal, Djokovic or Andy Murray since Marat Safin beat Lleyton Hewitt at the 2005 Australian Open.
It will also involve two men contesting their maiden grand slam final for the first time since Albert Costa upset Spanish countryman Juan Carlos Ferrero at Roland Garros in 2002.
Before Wawrinka's breakthrough over Nadal at this year's Australian Open, the so-called big four had shared 33 of the previous 35 grand slam titles in the most dominant collective reign the game has ever seen.
But Cilic said while Wawrinka's stunning success hadn't quite shaken tennis's world order, it gave other challengers the belief they too could be title contenders - and no longer pretenders - at the majors.
"I knew I had to work and it's possible," the Croatian said.
"The competition is getting bigger. The guys there are from the `second' line are moving closer and they are more often at the later stage of the tournament.
"They are going to get only better; they're not going to get worse."
Both the 11th-seeded Nishikori and 14th-seeded Cilic have overcome major career setbacks to book their dates with destiny.
After years of injury-enforced layoffs, Nishikori had been in doubt for this very tournament after pulling out of the Cincinnati Masters with a cyst on his foot that required removing.
The 24-year-old feared the injury would end his American hardcourt season.
Then, after surviving the opening week, the Japanese underdog needed brave back-to-back five-set comeback wins over Canadian fifth seed Milos Raonic and the third-seeded Wawrinka to set up his clash with Djokovic.
And once again Nishikori delivered, breaking the top seed five times to continue his Open fairytale.
"I don't know what's going on," he said.
"It's an amazing feeling beating the world No.1 player.
"It was really tough conditions today. It was heavy, but I guess I love to play long matches and I hope I can recover for the final."
When Nishikori last year lost in the opening round to a lowly-ranked qualifier, Cilic wasn't even playing while serving a reduced four-month suspension for testing positive to a banned substance.
The 25-year-old maintains he tested positive for a banned stimulant contained in a supplement bought over the counter by one of his staff and says the controversy is fuelling his grand slam desire.
Even Federer, a long-time ant-doping advocate, said he couldn't begrudge the 24-year-old if he went on to win the title.
"Yeah, I'm fine with it. I truly believed he didn't do anything wrong in the sense that he did it on purpose," Federer said.
"Was he stupid maybe? Maybe. You know, yeah. But I feel like I know him well enough and I don't think he would ever do it.
"I don't quite remember what the circumstances were, but I feel more bad for him than anything else.
"So for me, when I see him, it doesn't cross my mind in any way.
"And, no, I think he was becoming the player he is already way before that.
"So, from that standpoint, it's no problem for me."
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