Marin Cilic made history after dropping down to the Challenger Tour circuit. A former world No. 3, Cilic beat en route to 2014 US Open glory but has since fallen down the rankings after taking a lengthy injury layoff.

The Croatian got himself back in the winner's circle on Sunday, making history as he lifted the trophy at the Girona Challenger. It came almost 18 years after he won his last Challenger title - a span that allowed him to break Andy Murray's record for the longest gap between victories on the lower-level circuit.

Cilic was once one of the Big Four's main rivals. The 36-year-old earned wins against all of the multi-Grand Slam champions and defied their dominance to lift his only Major title at the US Open 11 years ago.

Now ranked at No. 143 in the world, the Croatian tennis star is still breaking records and upsetting the four multi-Grand Slam champions. Cilic's ranking wasn't high enough to enter the Masters 1000s in Indian Wells and Miami this month, so he decided to return to the Challenger circuit.

He had a disappointing outing in Murcia last week, losing his opening match, but Cilic turned things around in Girona. The former No. 3 defeated three seeded players to reach Sunday's final.

There, he beat Elmer Moller 6-3 6-4 to lift his third title on the Challenger Tour and first since 2007.

The 17-year and 10-month gap between trophies is the longest in Challenger history. Murray previously held the record, being crowned the 2023 Aix-en-Provence champion 17 years and eight months after his triumph in Aptos.

Cilic has been clutch all week in Girona. He outlasted top seed Marton Fucsovics 6-7(5) 7-6(4) 6-2 in almost three hours. The Croat has also saved the last 25 break points he's faced.

The 36-year-old is now set to rise back into the top 120 in the rankings thanks to his efforts in Spain.

Cilic has been slowly climbing back up since returning from a six-month injury layoff ranked outside of the world's top 1000 last August.

He lifted his 21st ATP Tour-level title at the Hangzhou Open in September, entering the tournament as the world No. 777.

Cilic also made a statement at last month's Dubai Championships, upsetting on his way to the quarter-finals.

The newly-crowned champion will now hope to have a much shorter gap between Challenger title wins as he enters the upcoming tournament in Menorca. He will be the No. 3 seed and faces Ignacio Buse in his opening match.