Bad cell service is the only thing that can stop Marin Cilic

After ripping through the field to claim his first major at the U.S. Open, Marin Cilic was finally foiled by poor cell service.

After ripping through the U.S. Open field to claim his first major, Marin Cilic was finally foiled -- by poor cell service.

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Most of Cilic's family was back in Croatia and he tried to get in touch with them to join in their celebration, but it seems center court was not built with cell phone service in mind. Cilic explained the problem during the post-match press conference.

"Well, the reception wasn't there. I called - I wanted to call my family back home. only my brother, my younger brother was here. He's in college. He just arrived to college to U.S. So he was able to come. And at home was huge celebration. I mean, they were already celebrating after quarterfinal and having huge, huge - fun and huge party. I was just trying to talk with them to say thank you for all the support and for, you know, for everything they did for me."

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Cilic did eventually reach his family from a land line, but they were probably too distracted with their "fun and huge party" to be bothered.

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Marin Cilic defeated Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 on Monday to win his first U.S. Open title. In a tournament full of upsets, Cilic pulled off the final one, carrying over the form that saw him upend No. 2 seed Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals to advance to his first Slam final. The 25-year-old became the first Croatian to win a major since Goran Ivanisevic won Wimbledon in 2001 and the first man ranked outside the top ten to win the U.S. Open since Pete Sampras in 2002.

-  Brendan Maloy