Who says we didn't have a Croat in the US Open finals?
Maybe we didn't get to see our best tennis player Marin Čilić in the US Open finals this year, but one Croat was indeed on the centre court as a part of the historic moment since this was the very first time in history of the tournament that both men's and women's finals had female chair umpires!
Match between Flavija Pennetta and Roberta Vinci was umpired by Marija Čičak and this was not her first Grand Slam Finale. She was one of the umpires during last years Wimbledon finals in the match between Kvitova and Bouchard.
This 37-year old Croat from Zagreb recieved her ITF Gold Badge status, the highest rank a chair umpire can achieve, four years ago and what makes this an even greater achievement is the fact that only 5 other female umpires have the same status - Alison Hughes (UK), Eva Adseraki Moore (Greece), Juan Zhang (China), Lousie Engzell (sweeden) and Mariana Alves (Portugal).
Congrats Maria on a job well done!
