August 21, 2022 - The fantastic week for Croatian tennis player Borna Ćorić continues as he advances to the final of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati with a 6-3, 6-4 victory against British tennis player Cameron Norrie. Ćorić will play in the Cincinnati Masters final on Sunday night against Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Ćorić will thus play in the final of the Masters 1000 tournament for the second time. It happened for the first time in Shanghai in 2018, and on this occasion, he will face Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas for the Cincinnati Masters title. 

Once again this week, Ćorić was more than convincing in Cincinnati. After a great fight and victory in a difficult three sets against Rafael Nadal, Ćorić, who entered this tournament as the 152nd player in the world, beat Bautista Agut and Auger Aliassime. And now he's celebrating against the 11th player in the world.

Norrie opened the match better and took a 3-1 lead, only for Ćorić to string together five games and reach 1-0 in sets. At the same time, Ćorić won most of those five games convincingly.

In the second set, Ćorić continued to dominate in his service games. He kept the Briton at a great distance, while on the other hand, he often threatened his opponent with a break. The score was 2-2, and after that, he kept the advantage and calmly brought the match to an end. Ćorić used three of seven break chances and Norrie one of two.

"At the beginning of the match, I wasn't on the court, and I didn't feel the ball very well. But I found the right rhythm quickly, started serving better, and that was the key to victory," said Borna after the match, who scored seven aces in the victory with a first-serve percentage of only 43 percent.

In his career, the 25-year-old Ćorić won two ATP tournaments, Marrakech in 2017 and Halle in 2018. He played his last final two years ago in Saint Petersburg, and in the same year, he played his last match against Stefanos Tsitsipas at the US Open, which Ćorić won 6-7(2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4).

Sunday is a new challenge, this time for the winner of the Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati.

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August 18, 2022 - Borna Ćorić proves he's fit again after knocking out World No. 3 tennis player Rafael Nadal of the Cincinnati Masters. 

Borna Ćorić beats Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal 7:6(9), 4:6, 6:3 and advanced to the 3rd round of the Masters Series ATP tournament in Cincinnati. Ćorić thus spoils Nadal's return to tennis in his comeback match, the first after Wimbledon, when he surrendered to Nick Kyrgios in the semi-final. 

In a match lasting 2 hours and 51 minutes, Ćorić achieved the greatest success of the season, proving that he is fit again after a long break due to injury. After a dramatic first set in which both players saved two set-points each, Ćorić reached an important break in the middle of the third set, which was enough for him to win.

"This is special. I haven't been here for the past two years; I haven't played in big tournaments in front of a lot of spectators. Honestly, I was just looking forward to playing this match, and the fact that I won is crazy," said Ćorić, who now faces Robert Bautista Agut.

"It will be an interesting match. I will have to be aggressive, especially because I played against Nadal for a long time and finished late," said Ćorić, who leads 5:4 against Bautista Agut in head-to-head matches.

This was the fifth match between Ćorić and who many consider the best tennis player of all time. Borna Ćorić has a 3:2 advantage in head-to-head matches against the Spaniard. The Croatian tennis player, who fell to 152nd place in the ATP ranking due to injuries, and was once the 12th tennis player in the world, defeated Nadal in the Basel quarterfinals in 2014 (6:2, 7:6(4) and then two years later in Cincinnati he won 6:1, 6:3. He lost to Nadal at the US Open in 2015 and the Masters in Canada in 2017.

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August 19, 2019 - Croatian tennis player Ivan Dodig and Slovakian partner Filip Polasek are the new Cincinnati Masters doubles champions! 

Dodig and Polasek won the doubles competition at the Masters 1000 series ATP tournament in Cincinnati on Sunday after defeating the Colombian top-seed Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the final 4-6, 6-4, 10-6, reports HRT.

Dodig and Polasek didn't start well and lost a game on their serve in the first game, though it was also the only break they allowed the entire match. Still, that was enough for Cabal and Farah to win the first set. 

In the second set, the Croatian-Slovakian combination snagged the serve from the Colombian duo with a 5-4 lead, which automatically secured them the second set. The winner was then forced to be decided in an extended tie-break. The key to the win was the 4-0 series for Dodig and Polasek, who went from 3-3 to 7-3 and held that advantage until the end.

WHAT A MOMENT!

✅ First ? as a team
✅ First #ATPMasters1000 ? as a team

Filip Polasek, who didn't play pro tennis from November '13-June '18, and Ivan Dodig upset top seeds Cabal/Farah 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 in just their fourth event together. pic.twitter.com/nyJNgFyGZW

— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) August 18, 2019

Dodig and Polasek had their first doubles appearance in late June in Antalya, where they reached the final and lost to Jonathan Erlich and Artem Sitak. The duo also played in the Wimbledon semi-final and was relegated in the first round of the tournament in Montreal. However, in their fourth tournament together, they reached their first trophy.

This is Dodig’s 14th doubles title in his career in his 29th final, and the third in 2019, having previously won in Montpellier and Lyon with Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin. For the 34-year-old from Medjugorje, this is the fifth trophy in the Masters 1000 series tournament, and the second in Cincinnati, where he was also the winner in 2016 with Brazilian Marcelo Melo.

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

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. 

August 15, 2019 - Donna Vekić will face American tennis star Venus Williams in the round of 16 at the Cincinnati Masters. 

After Marin Čilić, Ivo Karlović, Borna Ćorić, and Petra Martić all failed to make it out of the first round of the Cincinnati Masters, Croatia can still count on 23-year-old Osijek native Donna Vekić.

For the second time in two weeks, Donna Vekić (WTA - 26th) defeated former best tennis player in the world, Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (WTA - 40th), with a score of 6-2, 7-5 in the 2nd round of the Cincinnati tournament. Thus, the Osijek player has advanced to the last 16 of the competition, where she will meet tennis legend and big sister to Serena - 39-year-old Venus Williams (WTA - 65th), reports Net.hr.

Vekić needed only 83 minutes for her second win over Azarenka, during which she was the one who dominated and dictated the events on the court. 

In the first set, Vekić led 4-0, and after a long game and saved break point, her advantage increased to 5-1. Two games later, Vekić concluded the first set in her favor. 

In the second set, Vekić reached a new break in the third game and held the lead up to 4-2. The Belarusian then played a little better for the first time in the match, winning three games for 5-4, but Vekić came back with her first match point and fifth ace to secure her spot in the round of 16. 

Placing in the round of 16 will bring Vekić progress on the WTA ranking, and in the event she defeats Venus Williams and reaches the quarterfinal, the Osijek player would again jump over Petra Martić and become the best-ranked Croatian female tennis player on Monday.

Vekić had played against Venus Williams once, three years ago at Wimbledon, when the seven-time Grand Slam winner won in two sets (7-6, 6-4).

Vekić and Williams will meet on Thursday at 7 pm Croatia time. 

Mate Pavić and doubles partner Burno Soares will also play in the round of 16 on Thursday against Daniil Medvedev and Marcelo Demoliner. 

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

August 13, 2019 - Marin Čilić, Ivo Karlović, and Petra Martić are out in the first round of the Cincinnati Masters. 

Croatian tennis players did not have the best start to the Cincinnati Masters on Monday, known as the oldest tennis tournament in the United States played in its original city, announces HTS.

Namely, Marin Čilić had a swift goodbye to the Masters 1000 Series tournament in Cincinnati. The 2016 winner of the competition and 14th seed was knocked out in the first round by Moldovan Radu Albot (39th on the ATP list) - 6:4, 7:6 (6).

It was an unconvincing and underwhelming performance by Čilić who managed 41 unforced errors during the match (Albot only had 21) and did not use any of the six break points. He lost the first set after the break in the third game, and in the second set, he missed six set points - two at the 5:4 lead, two at 6:5 (15:40), and two in the tie-break leading 6:4. Čilić managed a double fault on his only set point on his serve (6: 5 in the tie-break). 

It was their second encounter and the first victory for the Moldovan player. Marin did not defend points from last year's semifinal, and with this defeat, he has dropped out of the top 20 in the ATP list and is currently ranked 22nd.

After Toronto, Petra Martić finished her performance in the first round of the WTA portion of the tournament in Cincinnati. Croatia’s best female tennis player lost to the ninth-best tennis player in the world, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka - 6:1, 6:4.

Petra couldn’t catch the right rhythm throughout the match - the first set was settled after the Belarusian led 5:0, though it was a much more equal encounter for the remainder of the match. Martić had a break point to lead 3:2, but in the next game, she lost her first strike, which decided the match. In the 10th game, Petra had three break points (0:40) to return to the match, but Sabalenka managed to keep her serve (saving all seven break points in the match) and the winner was decided in two sets.

After brilliantly completing two qualifying rounds, Ivo Karlović was not able to continue his run in Cincinnati on Monday. Karlović struggled to find the right solution for the ever-better German Jan-Lennard Struff (36th on the ATP list), who dominated Ivo in two sets - 7:5, 7:6 (4).

The only break in the match occurred in the 12th game of the first set, with both players holding their first strikes for the remainder of the game. The game was ultimately decided in a tie-break where Ivo led 4:3, but by the end of the match, he had not even won a point. The Zagreb native achieved 16 aces, had a first-serve percentage of 62 percent,  and did not have a break point during the match.

However, not all hope is lost. The first-round duel of Borna Ćorić and American Reilly Opelka was interrupted by rain at 6:4, 3:6, 4:3. The American player is serving in the eighth game of the third set, and Ćorić has a 0:15 lead. The winner of the match will play against Alex de Minaur of Australia who defeated Italian Marco Cecchinato (5) 6:7, 6:1, 6:2.

The remaining Croatian female representative, Donna Vekić, will play her first-round match at 5 pm Croatian time on Tuesday against Czech Katerina Siniakova.

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

Čilić is out of the Cincinnati Masters. 

Marin Čilić will try to reach his third consecutive victory against Djokovic on Saturday.