For most of 2024, Marin Cilic was a trivia answer: a former US Open champion outside the top 1,000. Then, in September, he walked onto a hard court in Hangzhou ranked No. 777 and walked off with an ATP title — the lowest-ranked champion in ATP Tour history, per the ATP Tour’s awards report. The surgery, the false starts and the title run explain how a veteran rebuilt his season from one operating table — and what it will take to climb back into the top 100 in 2025.
Ranking at Hangzhou: No. 777 (ATP Tour) · Ranking after title: No. 212 (The Athletic (sports journalism)) · Ranking in November: No. 196 (Tennis Majors (tennis news outlet)) · 2024 record before surgery: 0-4
Quick snapshot
- Won the Hangzhou Open as the world No. 777, beating Zhang Zhizhen 7-6(5), 7-6(5) (The Athletic)
- Underwent knee surgery in May 2024 after an 0-4 start to the season (The Athletic)
- Nominated for the 2024 ATP Comeback Player of the Year award (The Athletic)
- Whether the knee holds up through a full season after two interrupted years
- Whether the Comeback Player of the Year award goes to Cilic — the nomination is confirmed, the result wasn’t in the report
- Finished 2024 at No. 196 with the top 100 in sight (Tennis Majors)
- A healthy preseason, not ranking points, will decide how far he climbs (Tennis Majors)
Eight checkpoints, one pattern: every climb in Cilic’s ranking traces back to a single decision — the May 2024 surgery — after two false starts that cost him a year.
| Checkpoint | What happened |
|---|---|
| January 2023 | Knee injury forces retirement in round two at the Pune Open (Tennis Majors) |
| July 2023 | Return at Umag ends in a first-round loss; no more matches for the rest of 2023 |
| January 2024 | Second return: four events, including Davis Cup, with an 0-4 record |
| May 2024 | Knee surgery after the winless start |
| Late August 2024 | Comeback resumes in ATP Challenger events after rehab |
| September 2024 | Wins the Hangzhou Open as No. 777; final: 7-6(5), 7-6(5) vs Zhang Zhizhen |
| September 2024 rankings | Leaves the event at No. 212; 565 places gained in two weeks (The Athletic) |
| November 2024 | Ranked No. 196 with the top 100 in sight |
Why Cilic disappeared from the top 1,000
By the time Cilic walked out for his first match of 2024, his ranking was already in freefall. Tennis Majors traces the problem to the start of the 2023 season, when a knee injury forced him to retire from his second-round match at the Pune Open. He tried a comeback at Umag in July of that year, lost in the first round, and then stopped playing for the rest of the season.
Returning again in January 2024, he played four events — including Davis Cup — and lost all four. According to the ATP Tour, that winless stretch ended in the operating room: Cilic underwent knee surgery in May 2024 and went quiet until late August.
The 0-4 start was never a form slump — it was a player trying to compete on a knee that needed surgery. The slide outside the top 1,000 was the mechanical result, not a loss of level.
What this means: the ranking drop was about a joint, not a game. Once surgery removed the mechanical problem, results changed within weeks — the strongest signal in the whole comeback story.
Hangzhou: the title that rewrote the rankings
- Entered the Hangzhou Open at No. 777 after two Challenger appearances.
- Beat Zhang Zhizhen 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in the final — decided entirely in tie-breaks.
- Left the tournament at No. 212, a 565-place rise over two weeks.
Before the final, Cilic had not played a tour-level match since May. The Hangzhou run was his third event back, after two ATP Challenger tournaments that were always meant as warm-ups. The title itself arrived in the tightest possible format: two tie-breaks against Zhang Zhizhen, both ending 7-6(5).
According to the ATP Tour, the win made Cilic the lowest-ranked champion in ATP Tour history. The Athletic pointed to the mechanics of the jump: the ATP updated Cilic to No. 212 on the day of his title win, while Monday’s weekly rankings still listed him at No. 373.
Ranking jumps of this size only happen when a player has almost nothing to defend. Cilic’s 2025 will be the inverse — every win now moves him up, and every early loss stops the climb. The math flips from survival to opportunity.
The trade-off: the 565-place rise made a great headline, but it was partly an optical effect of starting so low. The real number to track is No. 196 — where Cilic’s season actually ended, with a top-100 return in sight.
The comeback timeline
- — Knee injury in round two at the Pune Open; Cilic retires from the match.
- — Returns at Umag; first-round loss; no more matches in 2023.
- — Second return; four events including Davis Cup; 0-4.
- — Knee surgery after the winless start.
- — Renewed comeback via two ATP Challenger events.
- — Wins the Hangzhou Open as No. 777; becomes the lowest-ranked champion in ATP Tour history.
- — Ranked No. 196; top 100 in sight.
The shape matters more than the dates: three attempts, two false starts, one return that stuck. Cilic won a title in his third tournament back after surgery — a compression of recovery that most players coming back from similar layoffs don’t get.
Why this matters: the timeline suggests the knee, once operated on, responded immediately. It also means the sample is still small — a handful of tournaments, not a full season of evidence.
What’s confirmed, what’s still open
Some parts of Cilic’s comeback are locked in. Others won’t be answered until he plays a full schedule again.
- Knee surgery in May 2024 after an 0-4 start — confirmed.
- Hangzhou Open title, the lowest-ranked title in ATP Tour history — confirmed.
- 565 ranking places gained in two weeks — confirmed.
- Season finish at No. 196, with top 100 in sight — confirmed.
The open questions are different in kind. They’re not about whether the comeback happened, but how far it can go.
- Whether the knee survives a full season — Cilic hasn’t played one uninterrupted year since the injury began.
- Whether the Comeback Player of the Year award follows the nomination — the tour’s report confirmed the shortlist, not the result.
- How the repaired knee responds to consecutive weeks of top-level matches — the September run didn’t test it.
- When the No. 196 ranking converts into a top-100 return — the target is public, the timetable isn’t.
The split is clearest in the record: everything Cilic did after surgery confirms the level never left. Everything about 2025 depends on the joint holding up.
What comes next for Cilic
“A lot of people have asked me why the hell I was going through this.”
Marin Cilic, via Tennis Majors
“Cilic entered Hangzhou at No. 777 and, after winning the title, became the lowest-ranked champion in ATP Tour history.”
ATP Tour, 2024 awards report
Two quotes frame the comeback from opposite ends: the player justifying the pain, and the tour documenting the result. Between them sit the facts that matter for 2025. Cilic ended the reported season at No. 196, and Tennis Majors said the top 100 was in sight. The Challenger route that rebuilt him in August was a means to an end, not a destination.
A former US Open champion winning a title in his third tournament back isn’t a feel-good footnote — it’s a warning to the draw. The moment Cilic’s knee holds for more than a month, his ranking becomes the most dangerous number in the bottom half of any entry list.
What to watch: the first hard-court events of 2025. A healthy Cilic at No. 196 is one good run away from the top 100; an interrupted preseason would push the timeline again.
The comeback is already part of ATP history: the lowest-ranked champion ever, a 565-place jump, a Comeback Player of the Year nomination. But the forward stake is what makes it matter now. With his November ranking at No. 196 and the top 100 in sight, the choice for fans is simple — track his early 2025 schedule, or risk missing the next chapter of a comeback that was written off twice.
en.tennistemple.com, tennisstats.com, tennisabstract.com, atptour.com, sport.sky.it, baike.baidu.com, tennisexplorer.com, rolandgarros.com, tennismajors.com
Frequently asked questions
Why was Marin Cilic ranked No. 777 in 2024?
Cilic dropped out of the top 1,000 in early 2024 after two injury-shortened seasons. After May surgery and a pause until late August, his ranking had almost nothing behind it, which is why he entered the Hangzhou Open at No. 777.
What injury did Marin Cilic have in 2024?
Knee problems began at the start of the 2023 season and forced him to retire in round two at the Pune Open. After a winless start to 2024, he underwent knee surgery in May 2024.
Did Marin Cilic win a title in 2024?
Yes. He won the Hangzhou Open in September 2024, beating Zhang Zhizhen 7-6(5), 7-6(5) in the final, becoming the lowest-ranked champion in ATP Tour history.
Was Marin Cilic nominated for the 2024 ATP Comeback Player of the Year?
Yes. The ATP Tour included Cilic among the nominees for the 2024 Comeback Player of the Year award after his post-surgery title run.
When did Marin Cilic return from knee surgery?
His renewed comeback began in late August 2024. He first played two ATP Challenger Tour events, then won the Hangzhou Open in his third tournament back.
What ranking did Marin Cilic reach after the comeback?
After the Hangzhou title, the ATP’s live update placed him at No. 212. By early November 2024, he was No. 196, with the top 100 in sight.
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Alex Nguyen is Editor-in-Chief at BuzzLayer, overseeing editorial standards, publication decisions and corrections.