Marin Cilic reached the final at the ATP 250 Hangzhou Open
Croatian player Marin Cilic reached his first men’s tennis final in two years after defeating Brandon Nakashima (USA) by 2-0 (6:4, 7:6(6)) in a match at the ATP 250 Chengdu Open tournament. It has a prize fund of 1 million USD and is held on hard surfaces.
Marin Cilic plays with wildcard and arrived in China ranked 777th in the men’s world rankings. He saved two break points in the second set to win in a tiebreak. He thus became the second-lowest ranked player in history to reach the final on the ATP Tour.
“I had to be focused in every serve and find a way to beat my opponent. The match was tough physically and I was 4-6 down in the tiebreak, but I made a strong serve for 5-6 and came back. I showed unbreakable, fighting spirit and excellent tennis”, said Marin Cilic.
Marin Cilic has at least one Tour final in 14 different seasons since 2008 and is chasing a maiden trophy after St Petersburg in October 2021. In the title battle, the Croatian, who won in one hour and 46 minutes, will face Zhang Zhizhen (China), who defeated his compatriot Bu Yunchaokete with 2-0 (7:6(3), 6:4).
Zhang Zhizhen is the third Chinese player to reach an ATP Tour-level final after Shang Juncheng earlier in the day and 2023 Dallas champion Wu Yibing.
