Cilic was once one of the best tennis players in the world. In 2018, the now veteran peaked at number three in the world rankings after reaching a grand slam final for the second year in a row.
Since then, however, he's struggled immensely with injuries and has twice had to undergo surgery on his right knee. Nevertheless, he is now ready for the final of the Chinese Hangzhou Open, which is part of the ATP 250 series.
He reached the final on Monday with a two-set victory over American Brandon Nakashima, after previously eliminating Zachary Svajda and the Japanese duo of Yoshihito Nishioka and Yasutaka Uchiyama.
It's a significant achievement given he hadn't played an ATP match since February prior to the tournament, being ruled out for six months due to injury troubles before playing two Challenger events upon his return in August.
In the process, he has become only the second player in the history of the ATP Tour, dating back to 1990, to reach an ATP final with a ranking lower than 700 at the start of the tournament. Not since Raemon Sluiter reached the final in Rosmalen on the outskirts of 's-Hertogenbosch in 2009 as number 866 at the start of the tournament has this happened at the men's top level.
Back then, Sluiter ended up losing the final to German Benjamin Becker, so Cilic could make more history if he manages to win the final, as he would then be the lowest-ranked player ever to win an ATP tournament.
That record currently belongs to retired Australian great Lleyton Hewitt, who burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old in 1998 with a victory at the Adelaide International after beating Andre Agassi, among others. Hewitt went into the tournament in Australia ranked 550th in the world.
Australian Pat Cash and Zimbabwean Kevin Ullyett have also managed to reach finals when ranked outside the top 500, as Cash reached the final of the Seoul Open in 1990 while Ullyett lost the final of the Nottingham Open in 1999.
Should Cilic prevail in Hangzhou, it will be the 21st career title for the Croatian, who in 2014 won the US Open with a victory over Japanese Kei Nishikori. His last ATP title was back in October 2021, when he defeated Taylor Fritz in the final of the Russian St. Petersburg Open.
In the final, Cilic will face a difficult and seeded opponent in Zhizhen Zhang, who started the tournament as sixth seed, two below Cilic's semi-final opponent Nakashima. However, the final in Hangzhou is 27-year-old Zhang's first ever ATP final.