Marin Cilic secured his first win on the ATP Tour since January 2023 on Wednesday, finishing with a flourish to complete a 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 comeback over Zachary Svajda in the first round of the inaugural Hangzhou Open.
The former No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings has been hampered by injuries over the course of the past two seasons, eventually undergoing a second knee surgery in May this year. After a spell on the sidelines, Cilic returned to action on the ATP Challenger Tour last month and has worked his way back to record an impressive triumph over Svajda.
"It means a lot," Cilic said of his return to winning ways. "It means a lot for me, for my team who have been with me through this extremely long, boring and difficult period. Two surgeries, lots of recovery, rehab and training. [I'm] just extremely happy that I am healthy, enjoying myself on the court, and physically back to 100 per cent."
A winning return 🔙 for @cilic_marin 🙌@HangzhouOpen | #HangzhouOpen pic.twitter.com/CtN17wrNzj
— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 18, 2024
The 35-year-old, who clinched his maiden Grand Slam at the 2014 US Open, won 92 per cent of first-serve points in the deciding set according to Infosys ATP Stats to cruise to victory and book his spot in round two, where he will face Maximilian Marterer or Yoshihito Nishioka for a place in the quarter-finals.
Earlier in the day, seventh seed Fabian Marozsan secured an emphatic 6-0, 6-2 win over Luca Nardi to advance in one hour, 10 minutes. The Hungarian has established himself as a persistent threat on hard courts this season and is off to a strong start in Hangzhou with a statement win, overpowering Nardi with a comfortable triumph.
The Italian Nardi produced a stellar run to defeat Novak Djokovic en route to the fourth round of the ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells in March but has since been unable to record a win over a Top 50 opponent.
Just like Cilic, veteran Mikhail Kukushkin also rolled back the years with a dominant display to defeat fifth seed Luciano Darderi 6-3, 6-4. The 36-year-old, who currently sits at No. 112 in the PIF ATP Rankings, used his craft and guile to record his first tour-level win since October 2023.
The former World No. 39 will now attempt to notch his 175th tour-level win when he faces either Alexander Shevchenko or Marco Trungelliti in the second round.
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