Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori spearhead new era

Cilic beat Nishikori 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 to win his first major. (©GettyImages).

Marin Cilic’s victory in the US Open Final was the first Grand Slam Final not to involve a member of the ‘big four’ since 2005.

Roger Federer and co have dominated for the past ten years, but are we seeing the start of a new era for the mens game?

There have been occasions when a player outside of the usual suspects has claimed a slam; Juan Martin del Potro saw off Federer in the 2009 US Open and Stanislas Wawrinka defeated Rafa Nadal in this year’s Australian Open.

However it has been complete domination from Federer, Nadal,Djokovic and Andy Murray since 2005.

Related links

- Marin Cilic wins US Open title
- Nishikori reaches US Open final with victory over Djokovic

Times are changing

It seems as though the times are changing.

Djokovic, at the age of 27 has many years of success ahead of him if he stays clear of injury, but it is not so clear cut for the other three.

Federer, at the age of 33, cannot be expected to play at the same level he did in his 20s and has not won a Grand Slam since 2012.

Only reaching a final on one occasion since he won his seventh Wimbledon title.

How long has Nadal got left?

Nadal has faced many injury problems throughout his career and it seems to be a question of how long his body can continue to sustain his high intensity style of play.

However, he is still capable of eclipsing Federer’s 17 titles if he stays clear of injury and at the age of 28 he has time on his side as he currently has 14 major's himself.

Murray's post-Wimbledon hangover

Murray has also suffered with many problems since becoming the first Brit to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry.

He has failed to win a single title on the ATP tour since defeating Djokovic as SW19.

He has since had back surgery and split with coach Ivan Lendl – who led him to his two slam titles – replacing him with Amelie Mauresmo.

I’m not saying the ‘big four’ will never win another title, they can never been written off as they are all great players that have been a pleasure to watch over the years, but there is a younger, hungry generation ready to make their breakthrough and I take a look at who has the potential to become a future number one.