In the Chinese Hangzhou Open, there could have been a third Chinese men’s winner on the ATP tour after Shang Junchng’s win in Chengdu, but the country’s number one Zhang Zhizhen lost the final against meritorious Marin Cilic.
The 35-year-old won 7-6(7-5),7-6(7-5) after receiving a wildcard in his first tournament since February.
The Croatian, who had problems with a knee injury, wrote a piece of ATP history. Ranked 777 at the start of the tournament, he became the lowest ranked player ever to win a tournament. After the win, Cilic rose to place 212 in the ranking.
Cilic, who was coached by Jonas Björkman in 2016-2017, won the US Open in 2014 and was in the finals at Wimbledon in 2017 and the Australian Open in 2018.