The 94-minute victory marked a career breakthrough for the 12th-seeded Croatian, winner of the 2014 US Open.

Cilic, 27, claimed his first trophy at a Masters 1000 on his 71st career attempt.

The Croatian, who did not win his semifinal over Grigor Dimitrov until nearly 1:30 am Sunday morning due to rain delays, ended with seven aces and broke Murray three times.

Cincinnati is only his second title since winning the US Open two years ago.

Murray has been on a tear this season, winning grass titles at Queen's and Wimbledon before triumphing a week ago over Juan Martin Del Potro at the Olympic final.

But the accumulation of tennis finally proved to be too much for the Scot, who played his 14th match in 15 days dating back to the Games.

Cilic's win was his third against 11 losses to Murray. He is the lowest-ranked Cincinnati champion since number 17 Carlos Moya in 2002.