Written by Alberto Amalfi | @Itenisi_Manje | Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Photo credit: Zhe Ji/Getty
Marin Cilic celebrated his happy birthday by winning his 21st career title in China.
In a high-quality final, Cilic fired 18 aces to defeat the Chinese Zhang Zhizhen 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in today’s Hangzhou Open final.
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There are no service breaks in the final.
Former US Open champion Cilic, who celebrates his 36th birthday on Saturday, captured his first ATP title since the 2021 St. Louis crown. Cilic improved to 21-16 in career finals.
“I don’t think I did in any better way,” said Cilic. “The first match was 7-5 and the second was 7-5.
“We both worked very well today. Not too many rallies today. It can happen like this. Obviously, fast court, fast tennis. A little bit of luck today.”
In history books 📖@cilic_marin becomes the lowest-ranked ATP Tour winner in history since #HangzhouOpen ranked No.777! pic.twitter.com/uHQZKVrJCq
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) September 24, 2024
It is a historic victory for Cilic, who started this week ranked at number 777, becoming the lowest ranked ATP champion in history.
The victory moves Cilic up to number 373 in the live rankings.
