Cilic saves MPs against Uchiyama, advances to Hangzhou SFs

Can Marin Cilic complete his fairytale comeback to the ATP Tour following his return from injury?

Former US Open champion Cilic came back from the brink of defeat, saving two match points to survive Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-2, 6-7(4), 7-6(5) Sunday to advance to the semi-finals at the Hangzhou Open.

The Croatian was serving at 5-6, 15/40 down in the final set, but rallied to win the match in a tie-break and down Uchiyama, who upset top seed Holger Rune on Saturday. The 35-year-old Cilic also saved eight of the nine break point chances against him to seal his 67th Tour-level semi-final in his career and take his Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Uchiyama to 2-0.

Cilic is playing as a wild card in his first ATP Tour event since Buenos Aires in February, after he was sidelined with a knee injury for several months. Progressing to the semi-finals means that Cilic is now one step closer to attaining a 21st ATP Tour title and completing a perfect comeback.

Mar-INCREDIBLE! 😮@cilic_marin saves TWO match points to earn a semi-final spot@HangzhouOpen | #HangzhouOpen pic.twitter.com/rZY5v5XNJ0

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 22, 2024

"I think today’s match was a really great level from both of us," Cilic said in his post-match interview. "In the second set he played really great, was serving great under pressure and served great until the end of the match.

"For me, it was an amazing comeback, great to win that game at 5-3 when he was serving for the match and definitely thrilled with the win."

The former No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings will meet fourth seed Brandon Nakashima in the semi-finals. Nakashima battled past Australian Rinky Hijikata, winning 7-5, 6-3 to reach his sixth ATP Tour semi-final.

The American, who is at a career high No. 39 in the PIF ATP Rankings, converted all three of his break point opportunities to close out the match in 89 minutes. Nakashima also won 81 per cent of his first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to extend his Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Hijikata to 2-0.

"[It was a] very close match, I got off to a little bit of a slow start and went down an early break," Nakashima said after the match. "But I picked my level up when I needed it most in the first set and managed to ride the wave a bit and build some confidence".

Home hope Buyunchaokete advanced to his maiden ATP Tour semi-final with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Mikhail Kukushkin.

The Chinese wild card hit 17 winners to claim victory in one hour, 23 minutes. The 22-year-old also converted four of his seven break points to become the fifth Chinese player to reach the last four in an ATP Tour event.

The World No. 124 will face either compatriot Zhizhen Zhang or Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena in the semi-finals.