February 16, 2021 - Mektić, Pavić, Dodig, Jurak have advanced to the semifinals of the Australian Open in the doubles competition! 

A fantastic Tuesday for Croatian tennis in Melbourne, as Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić, Ivan Dodig and Slovak partner Filip Polašek, and Darija Jurak and Serbian partner Nina Stojanović have all advanced to the Australian Open semifinals in the doubles competition! 

Nikola and Mate still have not tasted defeat in 2021 and reached the 12th consecutive victory in the quarterfinal celebration against the 8th seed, Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut - 6:4, 4:6, 7:6 (10:3).

The winners were decided by the tie-break of the third set, in which Herbert and Mahut took the 3:2 lead, and Mektić and Pavić then took eight consecutive points to celebrate in the end.

The 2nd-seeded team in the fight for the grand final will play against Ivan Dodig and Filip Polašek (9th-seed) who defeated the Australian team of Matthew Ebden and John-Patrick Smith in the quarterfinals - 6:4, 2:6, 6:2. The Croatian-Slovak duo had a key break to win in the third game of the deciding set, and then drew 15:40 in the next game, after which the Australians no longer had a chance to return.

Darija Jurak reached the best result of her career at the age of 37. Namely, Darija and her 12-year-younger Serbian partner Nina Stojanović reached the semifinals of women's doubles competition after winning against the Serbian-Italian team Aleksandra Krunić / Martina Trevisan - 6:7 (3), 6:3, 6:2.

After losing the first set, Jurak and Stojanović did not have any problems on the way to a new victory. In the fight for the grand final, they will play the 3rd-seeded Czech team, Barbora Krejčíková and Katerina Siniaková.

On the way to the finals, the Croatian-Serbian women's doubles team also shocked the first seed Su-Wei Hsieh and Barbora Strýcová. 

Bravo! 

Source: HTS

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January 17, 2020 - Croatian tennis player Ivan Dodig and his Slovakian doubles partner Filip Polasek will compete for the title at the ATP tournament in Adelaide.

In the semifinal match, Dodig and Polasek defeated British team Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski after a big fight with a score of 5:7, 6:3, 15:13. The Croatian/Slovakian duo saved three match points and thus opened the season in a significant way, reaching the final already in the first tournament.

This will be Dodig’s 30th career final, and for his 16th title and third title with Polasek, he will battle against Argentine-French duo Maximo Gonzalez and Fabrice Martin.

Franko Skugor failed to reach the doubles final at the ATP tournament in Auckland. Skugor and his American partner Austin Krajicek lost in the semifinal to New Zealander Marcus Danielle and Austrian Philipp Oswald, who celebrated 6:2, 7:6 (5).

Croatian player Darija Jurak is also left without the title at the WTA tournament in Adelaide, after missing two match points with Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski in the final against American player Nichole Melichar and Chinese player Yi-Fan Xu. Jurak and Dabrowski led 6:2, 5:2, at 5:3 had two match points, and at 5:5 two break opportunities, but Melichar and Yi-Fan celebrated 2:6, 7:5, 10:5.

Recall, Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, the 24th best tennis player in the world, stopped Donna Vekic in the quarterfinal of the WTA tournament in Adelaide after two sets - 6:4, 6:3. Yastremska took away Veekic’s serve three times - she won the first set after a break in the tenth game, and the second in the eighth game. Donna had only one break-point in the third game of the first set. This was their third match and the third victory for the 19-year-old Ukrainian.

The first round of the Australian Open begins on Monday in Melbourne. Marin Cilic will face Corentin Moutet, Borna Coric will face Sam Querrey, Ivo Karlovic will play Vasek Pospisil, Petra Martic will play Christina McHale, and Donna Vekic will play Maria Sharapova.

Source: HTS

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Croatian tennis player Ivan Dodig and his French partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin have made it to the semis of the Masters 1000 series tournament in Miami, the Miami Open, after defeating Argentinians Maximo Gonzalez and Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 7-6 (6) in the quarterfinals, reports Gol.hr on March 27, 2019.

The critical moment of the first set was the sixth game in which Dodig and Roger-Vasselin had a break and led 4-2. They held their advantage for 37 minutes and won the first set 6-3.

In the second set, both pairs held their services to 4-4 when the Croatian-French duo had a break. In the next game, they had two match points but did not use them, and the Argentinian duo leveled at 5-5. The set was taken to the thirteen game when the Argentinians led 4-2 and then 5-3. Dodig and Roger-Vasselin came back with three points in a row and reached 6-5. Gonzalez and Zeballos equalized at 6-6, and Dodig and Roger-Vasselin received the next two points to win.

In the semi-finals, Dodig and Roger-Vasselin will play against Dutchman Wesley Koolhof and Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Unlike Dodig, Mate Pavić remained without a place in the semifinals. The best men's tennis duo of last year, Pavić and Austrian Oliver Marach, were defeated in the quarterfinals by Polish player Lukasz Kubot and Brazilian Marcelo Melo 6-7 (5), 5-7.

Pavić and Marach were excellent to start the match, and already in the first game took the service of their opponents and led 2-0. However, Kubot and Melo returned in the fourth game, equalizing to 2-2. By the end of the set, both pairs kept their serves, leaving it to the decisive thirteenth game.

The Croatian-Austrian pair misplayed their tie-break. Their rivals led 3-1 and 6-2. Pavić and Marach then saved three set points, but not the fourth.

At the opening of the second set, we saw breaks, but this time by Kubot and Melo. Pavić and Marach managed to equalize 2-2. Unfortunately, Kubot and Melo broke at 5-5 and efficiently served for the match.

Borna Ćorić also failed to win a spot in the semifinals after losing to the 18-year-old Canadian player Felix Auger Aliassime 7-6 (3), 6-2. 

Ćorić did well only in the first set, and at one point had a break point to lead 6-5. He did not use it, and in the tie-break, which proved to be key, he lost two points at his service and was left without the set. 

Auger Aliassime opened the second set with two breaks, and the story was over. The young Canadian player has thus reached the semifinals from qualifying and awaits John Isner today.

Darija Jurak and partner Raluca Olaru fell to Ashleigh Barty and Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-3 in the women's doubles quarters. 

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