Winning the Challenger for the first time in 17 years, Cilic proved that he was still up to the task

In September 2024, former US Open champion and Croatian player Cilic, who has fallen to No. 777 in the world rankings, sang all the way to the ATP 250 Hangzhou Open as a wild card player and won the championship. It is worth mentioning that he is the lowest-ranked player to win a tour title. Despite a four-game losing streak since then, Cilic has proven himself to be more than capable of fighting. It should be noted that he is also one of the few active players to have reached the semi-finals of a Grand Slam.

Since the start of the 2025 season, despite reaching the quarterfinals on the tour, Cilic's record before March 24 was not satisfactory. Since he has entered the ranks of veterans, many fans believe that Cilic may slowly retire and eventually disappear from the field of vision of netizens.

Cilic appeared at the Girona Challenge last week. It has the oldest city walls in Europe and some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, attracting many tourists. In the first round, facing Spain's Taverne, who has won eight Challenger tournaments, Cilic only allowed his opponent to win seven games in two sets to advance.

In the second round, Cilic faced a difficult opponent in the form of the tournament's top seed, Hungary's Fočovic. Sure enough, Fojovic was one step away from qualifying by stealing seventh. However, Cilic, who was not willing to lose, returned the color in the second set and also pulled back a set through a tie-break, and the two sides returned to the same running line. In the deciding set, Cilic did not give his opponent any chance, only allowing his opponent to win two games and win the comeback and reach the quarterfinals.

In the quarter-finals, facing the sixth seed of the tournament, Spain's Busta, who has reached the semifinals of the Grand Slam twice, Cilic showed no mercy and swept his opponent to reach the semifinals. His semi-final opponent was Frenkie de Jong, the tournament's fourth seed and a recent semi-finalist on the tour. In this game, Cilic controlled the situation on the field well, defeated his opponent, reached the final, and was only one step away from the championship.

Cilic faced the Dutch player Mohler in the final. Compared to the previous players, Moeller is undoubtedly slightly inferior. So far, the player has only won one Challenger title. In this duel, Moeller could not take advantage of the slightest advantage, and finally lost to Cilic, and could only regretfully finish second. Cilic has risen in the world rankings since winning this title, and it is his second Challenger title in 17 years.

A lot of times, the world of tennis is really just a teahouse. In this teahouse, there are many, many tea customers who have been here for a long time, and some of them have become quite famous. However, there are always fledgling tea drinkers who come here and look forward to tasting the sweet tea with their own efforts. And the author is just a small scholar in the corner of this teahouse who tells the stories of these tea customers in obscurity. I hope my article can bring some fresh information to all fans. Whether it's compliments or criticisms, maybe it's just to be able to get me far. That's it for today, and it continues tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home Author: Yixin Jushi)