Just over ten years ago Marin Cilic claimed the greatest accolade of his tennis career by winning his only Grand Slam at the US Open, but this week in Hangzhou might have been his sweetest.
More than three years after his last title on the ATP Tour, the Croatian would once again stand with trophy aloft to delight many across the tennis fraternity.
At 777 in the rankings, he became the lowest ranked player to ever win a tour level tournament in a history making week in China.
Cilic has endured a persistent knee injury that caused him to participate in just two tournaments in 2023 before attempting to return in January 2024 across the Australian swing.
He would go winless in his first four matches of the season before undergoing another major surgery in May in an effort to get his body in shape to face the rigours of professional tennis once more.
The comeback came at Challenger level where he would progress to the second round at the Rafael Nadal Academy before heading to Cassis, France, where he met his 2018 Australian Open semifinal opponent in Kyle Edmund for the first time since that night on Rod Laver Arena.
Cilic overcame the Brit who is also on the comeback trail, before falling in the quarterfinals to Adria Soriano Barrera.
Hangzhou was next, and somehow with just five matches under his belt, the wildcard managed to rectify a one-set deficit to Zachary Svajda before backing it up with an impressive 6-4 6-1 win over Yoshihito Nishioka.
Japan’s Yasutaka Uchiyama was waiting in the quarterfinals and after a titanic tussle, the Croatian prevailed in a final set tiebreak before downing an in form Brandon Nakashima in straight sets to progress to the decider against Zhizhen Zhang.
It was already a special week for the then 35-year-old, having reached his first final since Tel Aviv in late 2022.
But business was unfinished, as he clinched the final 7-6 7-6 to make history and establish that he is still a threat when he is firing.
In addition, it is another ode to his stellar career that has spanned the better part of two decades.
In an era of Big Four dominance, Cilic was one of the rare few to break through for Grand Slam glory and it might have been more in 2017 and 2018 when he was stopped by Roger Federer at Wimbledon and the Australian Open respectively.
The major he won ten years ago against Kei Nishikori remains the only men’s singles decider that did not feature Federer, Nadal, Djokovic or Murray from Roland Garros 2005 to the Australian Open of 2020.
In fact, since Federer’s first Slam, only ten players outside of the Big Four have clinched major titles which puts Cilic in extremely rarified air.
He is one of just three active players to have reached the semifinals at all four Slams, while also sitting fourth for most titles among those still in the game.
While he has gone down to Nishikori in Tokyo, it is clear that there is plenty left in the tank for Cilic who has skyrocketed up 565 spots in the rankings to 212.
The forehand is still lethal, his serve pops like it always has and it is clear that the determination is as fierce as it ever has been.
If he can keep his body right, what can he conjure up in 2025?
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