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Big four no more

Marin Cilic defeated Kei Nishikori in straight sets in the US Open final © Getty Images

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When was the last time a men's grand slam singles final didn't contain any of the "big four"? And was Kei Nishikori really the first finalist from Asia? asked Keith Powell

The last grand slam men's singles final that didn't include any of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic or Andy Murray was back at the start of 2005, when Marat Safin beat Lleyton Hewitt to win the Australian Open.

The last ones in the other grand slams were the 2004 French Open final (Gaston Gaudio beat Guillermo Coria), the 2003 US Open (Andy Roddick beat Juan-Carlos Ferrero) and Wimbledon 2002 (Hewitt beat David Nalbandian).

Rather surprisingly, it does look as if Kei Nishikori was the first men's finalist representing an Asian country. I did wonder about Alex Metreveli, the 1973 Wimbledon runner-up: although he was representing the Soviet Union at the time, he was born in Georgia, now a separate republic. But that seems to be in Europe (just!).

Li Na is usually acknowledged as the first women's finalist from Asia, although actually Maria Sharapova was born in Siberia, in the Asian part of Russia.

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