Cilic hails maiden Grand Slam title as 'miracle' post winning US Open

Marin Cilic hailed his maiden Grand Slam title as a miracle, after he eased past Japan's Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in his first major final at the US Open after 27 previous major appearances.

Cilic said that considering everything, it's a miracle. He had tested positive for the stimulant nikethamide at the Munich Open in May last year and had been forced to watch the US Open from home.

Cilic always protested his innocence, claiming the substance was contained in an over-the-counter product bought on his behalf. Although his ban was cut from nine months to four, he was still unable to play the 2013 US Open, The BBC reported.

But despite his resentment at the manner in which the case was handled, Cilic believes that his time away from the sport helped harden his talents, paving the way for his Grand Slam breakthrough on Monday.

The Croat said that he felt the first part that helped him was the mental toughness, being much stronger and he was much tougher with himself on the tennis court when he was practicing and also when he was playing matches.

Cilic said that the other part was enjoying much more on the court, and added that he was always looking for the result, so things changed around and flipped it over with trying to enjoy on the court and enjoy every moment, which helped him to be much more relaxed.