Marin Cilic completed his remarkable run in the 2014 U.S. Open Tennis with a dominating performance against Kei Nishikori in the final on Monday at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The 14th-seeded Cilic displayed his powerful serve anew to score a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 victory against the 10th-seeded Nishikori to claim his first ever Grand Slam title.

"Seems completely unreal to be called Grand Slam champion," Cilic said after the match. "I was dreaming about this all my life, and suddenly last four, five days everything started to change."

Cilic turned heads in the tournament after scoring a straight-set win against sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych in the quarterfinals, which was followed by a huge 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 upset victory against second-seeded Roger Federer in the semifinals.

Against Nishikori, Cilic was considered an underdog, but the 25-year-old Croat defied the odds to become the first player from Croatia to win a Grand Slam title since his coach, Goran Ivanisevic, won the Wimbledon in 2001.

Cilic also became the first player outside of the top 10 to win the title at Flushing Meadows since 17th-seeded Pete Sampras won the event in 2002.

"It means everything," Cilic said of winning the 2014 U.S. Open title. "It's just a huge accomplishment and huge moment for myself and for my team and for everybody around me who was with me all these years supporting me, believing in me and never giving up. So this is just the peak of the world."

The win also erased the bitter memory of his doping suspension last year. Cilic said that he considered it as one of the darkest stages of his career, but it turned out to be beneficial for him.

"It was a difficult period, but was also good period for me," Cilic said. "I matured a bit more, and I was working day after day. I wasn't, you know, relaxing and doing nothing. So I think that helped me to improve physically. Also, it helped me to have, you know, enough time to put some new parts in my game, which are helping me to play this well now."

With the win, Cilic earned his biggest paycheck at $3 million and he will also move up from No. 16 to No. 9 in the world rankings. Watch the highlight of Cilic's breakthrough win on this link.

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