August 18, 2019 - Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek advance to their second ATP final together, this time at the Cincinnati Masters!

HTS reports that Croatian Davis Cup representative Ivan Dodig and Slovakian tennis player Filip Polasek have made it to the final of the Masters 1000 Series tournament in Cincinnati, where they defeated British pair Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski 6-1, 6-4 in Saturday's semi-final. 

Dodig and Polasek secured the first set after they broke their opponent in the fourth and sixth games, though in the second set they had a much harder job. 

Namely, Dodig and Polasek led 3:1, Murray and Skupski returned to bring the score to 4:3, though Dodig and Polasek ultimately secured the final after winning three games in a row. In total, Dodig and Polasek used four of the 13 break points, while Murray and Skupski used only one of three.

In the fight for their first ATP title in their second ATP final together (recall, the first was in Antalya, though they were also semifinalists in Wimbledon), they will play against the first-seed of the tournament, Colombian duo Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, who beat Mate Pavić and Bruno Soares in the other semifinal round - 6:3, 6:2. Pavić and Soares did not have a single break point in the match, while there was not a single tiebreak in the match. 

Dodig and Polasek will meet Cabal and Farah in the Cincinnati final on Sunday at 6:15 pm Croatia time. 

The Cincinnati Masters was far from successful for Croatia's singles tennis players. Marin Čilić, Borna Ćorić, Ivo Karlovicć, and Petra Martić all lost in the first round, while Donna Vekić lost in the round of 16 fight to American star Venus Williams. 

Borna Ćorić has already announced he will not participate in the next competition, the 250 series tournament in Winston-Salem.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

August 17, 2019 - Croatian tennis players Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavić have advanced to the doubles semi-final of the Cincinnati Masters. 

HTS reports that Ivan Dodig and Filip Polašek have reached a new success at the Masters 1000 Series tournament in Cincinnati. The Croatian-Slovak duo advanced to the semi-final after defeating Polish player Lukasz Kubot and Brazilian player Marcelo Melo - 3:6, 6:4, 10:5. 

Kubot and Melo took the first set, which was followed by a turnaround. Dodig and Polašek broke their opponent in the first game of the second set to equalize, and the key to their success was the perfect start to a decisive tie-break where they reached 7:0. Kubot and Melo managed to reduce the score to 7:4, but they couldn't do any better. 

With this result, Ivan is back in the company of the top 30 in the ATP doubles ranking and currently holds the 28th position. For a place in the final, they will play against Britons Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski.

Mate Pavić joins Ivan Dodig in the semi-final round of the Cincinnati Masters after he and Brazilian partner Bruno Soares (the 6th-seed of the tournament) topped 3rd-seed South African Raven Klaasen and New Zealander Michael Venus 6:1, 6:3.

It was all over in just 53 minutes of play, with Klaasen and Venus taking the lead in the first set 1:0, then losing nine games in a row, virtually deciding the winner. Pavić and Soares did not face a single break point, won 8 service games, and managed four double faults. In the semi-final, they face off against Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.

Dodig and Polašek will play in the sem-final on Saturday at 8 pm Croatian time, while Pavić and Soares will play at 10 pm.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

The best doubles player in the world continues dominating Roland Garros.

The Split native has come to his most significant achievement at just 24 years old.