HONG KONG (AFP) – A rusty former US Open champion Marin Cilic on Tuesday squandered nine match points on his return to tennis after an injury-ravaged year, losing a thriller to Jan-Lennard Struff 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (9/7) at the Hong Kong Open.
The Croatian former world number three Cilic looked to be cruising to victory in a tricky first-round test against the gritty big-serving German at Victoria Park after racing to a set and 5-2 up.
But world number 25 Struff showed huge determination to drag himself back from the brink, saving five match points in the second set to level the match in a tiebreak.
Struff then withstood four more match points in the deciding set before eventually prevailing after a marathon 3hr 6min on Victoria Park's centre court.
Cilic was pleased that his troublesome right knee had shown no ill-effects from the meniscus surgery and cartilage damage that kept him out for almost all of 2023.
"After coming back from such an injury, I'd have to say it was really positive feedback during the match," said Cilic, who won his lone major at Flushing Meadows in 2014 and has also reached Grand Slam finals at Wimbledon and the Australian Open.
'THINGS GOT COMPLICATED'
"I gave him a chance a little bit to come back, then things got complicated," said the 6ft 6in (1.98m) Cilic, who was wearing a small patch of support tape on his knee.
"But it gives me really good confidence. There were obviously a few things a little bit rusty with some knee movements, but I believe that it's going to come back with a few more matches."
Struff, who reached two finals last year, said it took time to get into his stride in his first match of 2024.
"After not playing for one year, I thought (Cilic) played a very good match," Struff said.
"I wasn't happy for the first set and a half how I played, but I tried to make it as hard as I could for him and I was a bit lucky, for sure."
Struff will meet Austria's world number 43 Sebastian Ofner in the second round after he cruised past American Mackenzie McDonald, ranked two places higher, 6-1, 6-2.
McDonald made headlines when he knocked out an ailing Rafael Nadal from the Australian Open a year ago, but looked out of sorts in his season opener as he was ousted in just 61 minutes.
Rising French star Arthur Fils, 19, who was runner-up in the ATP Tour's NextGen Finals last year, reached the second round with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 win over Borna Gojo of Croatia.
Top seed and world number five Andrey Rublev of Russia will not begin his campaign until Thursday after a bye into the last 16, where he will meet Britain's Liam Broady.
World number 108 Broady, who came through qualifying, breezed past Argentina's world number 70 Pedro Cachin 6-4, 6-0 in 1hr 9min.