Marin Cilic becomes lowest-ranked player in ATP history to win tournament title, in Hangzhou

You might say the odds were stacked against Marin Cilic at the Hangzhou Open. He entered the 250-level tournament in China with an 0-4 record in tour-level matches this season, ranked 777^th in the world rankings, and without an ATP Tour title since 2021. When the soon-to-be 36-year-old dropped the first set of his first match to Zachary Svajda, another quick exit appeared in the offing.

But from then on, Cilic began to resemble the player of his past: a champion. The Croat also entered this tournament with 20 titles to his name, none more significant than the US Open trophy he won 10 years ago. But age, injuries and form conspired to send the veteran plummeting down the tennis totem pole.

“It’s been a difficult period for me, in these last 20 months,” said Cilic. “I’ve lost my ranking, I didn’t play too much.”

He received a wild card into Hangzhou—and repaid the organizers by going all the way.

While those organizers and the fans would have likely preferred to see Chinese star Zhang Zhizhen prevail, no one could hold back a smile after seeing Cilic once again swing his racquet with success. After dropping that aforementioned set, he dropped just one more in total, capping his stay with a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) win.

The smile on his face after match point, and while accepting his championship, said it all.

Monday’s ATP rankings incorporated Cilic’s victories over Svadja, Yoshihito Nishioka and Yasutaka Uchiyama in Hangzhou, which boosted Cilic’s rank to No. 373. But the fact remains that having entered the tournament ranked outside the Top 750, Cilic has become the lowest-ranked champion in ATP Tour history (since 1990).

Accounting for additional ranking points earned, Cilic will now be ranked No. 212 after winning his 16^th career hard-court title.

“I hope I made it worthwhile, during the whole week,” a beaming Cilic said during his winner’s speech. “So happy and proud to make this victory not only for me, but for [my team] as well.”