Former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic has won his first ATP Tour title in almost three years, becoming the lowest-ranked men’s winner in the Open Era in the process.
Cilic, 37, beat the sixth seed and home favorite Zhang Zhizhen 7-6(5), 7-6(5) at the ATP 250 Hangzhou Open in China, having started the tournament ranked world No. 777.
Due to rain delays and rescheduling, he was ranked world No. 373 by the time they contested the final on Tuesday September 24, and will rise to No. 212 in next week’s update on Monday September 30 — an ascent of 565 places in two weeks.
Cilic was given a wildcard for the tournament, which was making its debut on the ATP calendar. Speaking on court, trophy in hand, the 2018 Australian Open finalist and 2014 U.S. Open champion said that the last 20 months, in which he has returned from knee surgery, had been difficult.
“I’ve lost my ranking, I didn’t play too much,” Cilic said.
““I hope I made it worthwhile during the whole week.”
Cilic is the lowest-ranked winner of an ATP title since Lleyton Hewitt won the Adelaide title ranked world No. 550 in 1998.
| Player | Ranking | Tournament | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Marin Cilic
|
777
|
Hangzhou
|
2024
|
|
Lleyton Hewitt
|
550
|
Adelaide
|
1998
|
|
Pablo Andujar
|
355
|
Marrakech
|
2018
|
|
Fernando Gonzalez
|
352
|
Orlando
|
2000
|
|
Tommy Haas
|
349
|
Houston
|
2004
|
On the same day, Shang Juncheng, 21, went one better than Zhang by winning the 250-level event in Chengdu, for his first ATP title. Shang beat top seed Lorenzo Musetti 7-6(4), 6-1.
(Zhe Ji / Getty Images)
