Marin Cilic - Getty Images

Young Blood Lights Up the ATP Tour

July 21, 2008

As the youngest player in the Top 50 of the world rankings, 19-year-old Marin Cilic has a promising career ahead of him.

At the beginning of 2007 Cilic sat well outside the Top 100 as he emerged from juniors and began playing on the professional circuit. Since then he has rocketed up the rankings at a stunning pace, breaking into the Top 100 in October and reaching a career-high No. 39 in January.

The young Croat is still waiting for his first ATP Tour singles victory but did claim a pair of Challenger titles last season. So far in 2008 he has reached the semifinals twice at ATP events, Nottingham and Chennai, and advanced to the fourth round at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon, defeating a pair of seeds at both events along the way. Throughout the year, Cilic has shown he is not afraid to take down some of the game’s top players. Among his victims this season are former Top 5 player Fernando Gonzalez (Chile), Nicolas Almagro (Spain), past Grand Slam champion Thomas Johansson (Sweden) and Paul-Henri Mathieu (France), who he’s defeated in three consecutive meetings.

While his pro career is still in its infancy, Cilic has so far lived up to the hype he created around himself from his time on the junior circuit. He ascended to the No. 1 spot in the junior world rankings at the beginning of 2006 and won a number of big titles as a junior. Most notably, he captured the 2005 French Open boys’ singles crown, where he defeated current Top 10 player Andy Murray (Great Britain) in the semifinals. He also had success on other surfaces as well, winning the Roehampton junior title on grass and the Eddie Herr championship on hard courts.

Cilic is part of a trio of teenagers currently among the Top 50 on the ATP Tour that also includes Argentina’s Juan Martin Del Potro and Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis. All three of them will turn 20 within the same four weeks later this year and have all posted impressive results so far on the pro circuit.

Cilic has accomplished more than most people do before his 20th birthday and with his ranking now high enough to qualify for main draw entry into the year’s biggest events, he is on track to continue to climb the South African Airways ATP rankings. Along with Del Potro and Gulbis, he has proven that the next generation of tennis stars will be supremely talented.