Cilic triumphs in Hangzhou to become lowest-ranked ATP Tour winner
The Croat defeated China’s Zhizhen Zhang in the final
Marin Cilic lifts the Hangzhou Open trophy. (SCREENSHOT/TENNIS TV)
Croat wildcard Marin Cilic created history on Tuesday by winning the Hangzhou Open title. He beat Chinese Zhizhen Zhang, the No 6 seed, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center, to become the lowest-ranked ATP Tour winner.
Cilic began his journey in Hangzhou ranked 777th in the ATP tally. With the win, he has broken Australian former pro Lleyton Hewitt’s record of clinching a tour-level trophy as the world No 550. Hewitt did that in Adelaide in 1998.
“It’s been a difficult period for me in the last 20 months,” Cilic, who recovered from two knee surgeries recently, said after the win. “I lost my ranking, didn’t play too much and big big thank you to the organising team for giving me this opportunity and believing in me and I hope I made it worthwhile during the whole week.
“Big thank you to my team here, everybody at home, my family, my boys, my wife, everyone who was with me in this difficult period,” the Croat added. Working day by day, believing, pushing me, giving me big strength. So happy and proud to make this victory not only for me but for them as well.”
It took Cilic two tiebreakers that extended across an hour, 53 minutes to claim the title, his 21st as a tennis pro.
The 35-year-old and Zhang remained neck and neck for the majority of the battle as the match witnessed no breaks of serves.
Cilic saved two break points in the opening set to later claim the lead, hitting 12 aces and 20 winners. In the second set, he smashed six aces and 14 winners, also creating two break-point opportunities. The Chinese saved his serve on both occasions to force another tiebreaker but couldn’t stop the 2014 US Open winner from crossing the finish line.
The match ended with Zhang netting a backhand after an intense rally as Cilic raised his arms in jubilation.
Cilic, ranked No 373, defeated American Zachary Svajda (5-7, 6-3, 6-0), Japanese Yoshihito Nishioka, the No 8 seed (6-4, 6-1), Japanese qualifier Yasutaka Uchiyama (6-2, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5)) and American Brandon Nakashima, the No 4 seed (6-4, 7-6 (6)) earlier in the tournament.
Cilic will improve his ranking significantly courtesy of the win as he finds himself placed 212th in the live rankings.
In the previous rounds of the Hangzhou tournament, Zhang, ranked No 43, defeated Kazakh qualifier Denis Yevseyev (6-2, 1-6, 6-4), Italian Mattia Bellucci (6-3, 6-0), Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena (6-3, 6-3) and wildcard Yunchaokete Bu (7-6 (3), 6-4).
