May 27, 2019 - Roland Garros, also known as the French Open, kicked off at the Stade Roland-Garros in Paris. Croatia’s tennis representatives, including Marin Čilić, Borna Ćorić, Petra Martić, and Donna Vekić have all advanced to the second round. 

Marin Čilić skipped the first obstacle at this year's Roland Garros. Croatia’s best male tennis player and the 11th-seed of the tournament defeated Italian Thomas Fabbiano, the 98th best tennis player in the world, in three sets - 6:3, 7:5, 6:1.

Marin played a solid match and had the most issues at the end of the second set when he lost his service at 4:4 and Fabbiano served to equalize 1:1. However, Čilić immediately returned the lost service, and by the end of the duel, won nine of the 10 games. In the third set, the Italian led 1:0 after a break and then lost six games in a row. Čilic achieved 13 aces and realized 58 percent of the first service, and made 36 unforced errors (Fabbiano 34). Čilić will play Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the round of 64. 

In just over an hour, Petra Martić advanced to the second round of this year's Roland Garros after defeating Tunisian Ons Jabeur (WTA-56)  6:1, 6: 2.

Petra took the service of her rival six times and lost two games on two occasions. Jabeur made 27 unforced errors (Martić 8). Martić also realized 65 percent of the first service and easily made it to the 2nd round where she will face French player Kristina Mladenović. 

Donna Vekić, the 23rd-seed of the tournament, made it to the 2nd round of this year's Roland Garros. Croatia’s best female tennis player was too strong for the 'lucky loser' of qualifications, Russian Liudmila Samsonova(WTA-159) - 6:2, 6:4.

The Osijek-native settled the first set after breaks in the third and fifth games, while in the second set she only took Samsonova’s service in the third game. Samson had just one break-point (the fourth game of the first set) that she did not take advantage of during the match. Vekić finished the game without a double fault and with 59% of the first service and 17 unforced errors (Samsonova 35). Donna will play in the 2nd round against Swede Rebecca Peterson (WTA-63). 

Borna Ćorić will play in the 2nd round of Roland Garros for the fifth time. After almost three hours, the 22-year-old Zagreb-native defeated Slovenian Aljaž Bedene who took the duel to the fourth set - 6:1, 6:7(4), 6:4, 6:4.

During the match, Bedene lost his service to Borna on five occasions; Borna did not succeed only in the second set, which went to a tie-break in favor of Bedene. On the other hand, he saved all three of Bedene's breaks. In the round of 64,  Ćorić will play against South African Lloyd Harris. 

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

Croatian tennis players Petra Martić and Donna Vekić advanced to the 3rd round of the WTA tournament in Madrid after eliminating Angelique Kerber and Kristýna Plíšková, reports Gol.hr on May 6, 2019. 

Petra Martić made it to the 3rd round of the Madrid Open without a fight. After knocking out double Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruz in the first round, Martić was meant to play against Angelique Kerber, the fourth best tennis player in the world, who was forced to retire due to an ankle injury.

Donna Vekić defeated Czech qualifier Kristýna Plíšková. (WTA-94) with a score of 6-4, 6-4 after an hour and 26 minutes of play. After Vekić broke at 4-2, Plíšková managed to get back for 4-4. However, the Croatian tennis player took her opponents serve and the first set. 

In the second set again, Vekić was first to come to a break, but Plíšková still managed to return the lost service. At 3-3, Vekić once again took her opponent’s service and routinely ended the match with a victory. 

In the last 16, we will see Croatia's best female tennis players, Donna Vekić and Petra Martić meet on Wednesday afternoon. 

Marin Čilić will also play in the round of 16 of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid. Croatia’s best male tennis player secured two wins in a row (for the first time after the Australian Open) after defeating Slovakian Martin Kližan in the first round on Tuesday and German Jan-Lennard Struff (ATP-49) in the second round with 4:6, 6:3, 6:4. Marin’s next rival will be either Del Potro or Đere. Thanks to these results, Marin has also jumped one position on the ATP ranking and is again among the top 10 tennis players in the world.

Borna Ćorić was sent home early from Madrid after losing to Frenchman Lucas Pouille in the first round 6:3, 7:5.

Mate Pavić and doubles partner Oliver Marach defeated Croatian-French duo Ivan Dodig and  Edouard Roger-Vasselin after a big fight in three sets - 6:4, 3:6, 10:5. They will play in the quarter-final against Argentine duo Maximo Gonzalez and Horacio Zeballos.

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

The Croatia women’s tennis team will not have the chance to play in the finals of the Fed Cup's Euro-African Zone first group in Bath, as they lost to Serbia 2-1 on Friday. After the decisive doubles match, Olga Danilović and Aleksandra Krunić claimed victory over Darija Jurak and Ana Konjuh 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, reports HRT on February 8, 2019. 

Serbia took the lead thanks to Olga Danilović’s win against Jana Fett 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7). In the duel, Fett recovered from 2-4 in the decisive set, saved the first match point at 4-5, and then two more in the tie-break (6-4), to miss a match point at 7-6. The Serbian tennis player won three points in a row and brought the first point to their team after two hours and 23 minutes of play. 

Croatia’s best female tennis player Donna Vekić came back to equalize, defeating Aleksandra Krunić 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 after one hour and 46 minutes of play. Vekić led 5-1 in the second set but allowed her rival to get four games. However, Vekić secured the win with a series of seven games, and celebrated for the third time in this tournament under the leadership of Iva Majoli. Who would win the first place in the group was then to be decided by doubles.

However, unlike the duels against Turkey and Georgia, the doubles were unlucky for Croatia. Although Jurak and Konjuh won the first set 6-1, Serbia came back in the second set, and in the third, they had a break, which Danilović and Krunić used in the fifth game. Jurak and Konjuh did not have a chance to come back.

Serbia will play in Saturday's final against the first-place team in Group A, which will be either the United Kingdom or Hungary. Croatia will play for third place against the defeated side.

The winner of the tournament in Bath will fight for entry into the World Group 2 in April.

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

The Croatia women’s tennis team secured another win in the Euro-African group of the Fed Cup held in Bath. After starting with a 2:1 win against Turkey, Croatia was better than Georgia. They will play for first place in Group B against Serbia on Friday, reports HRT on February 7, 2019. 

The winner of this clash will meet the best team from Group A on Saturday and will be better placed in April qualifiers for World Group II.

Croatia lead on Thursday thanks to Ana Konjuh who overcame Mariam Bolkvadze 6:4, 6:3.

“It was harder than I expected, but at least my confidence has risen. She was not an easy rival, but I managed to find a solution. My hand is fine, that's also important," Ana Konjuh said.

Jana Fett was unable to win against Ekaterina Gorgodze. In the third set, Fett had the advantage to break four times, with 5-4 serving for victory, but in the end, Gorgodze was more successful 4:6, 6:3, 7:5.

“The only thing that was good was the fight. I played poorly, and I could not feel the service and I think that was it,” Fett said.

The deciding point for the Croatia national team was made by Darija Jurak and Ana Konjuh, who defeated Ekaterina Gorgodze and Oksana Kalashnikova 7:5, 6:1.

“We are good together, we needed to find a rhythm, but we found it. We did not play together long enough, but we did well,” said Darija Jurak after the win, while coach Iva Majoli added: "We decided that Donna needed to rest, so she did not play because she was exhausted after the tournament in St. Petersburg and the match against Turkey. We were hoping that we would win after the individual matches, but that did not happen. Anyway, we really believed in the doubles, because Darija and Ana were always great in the Fed Cup,” Majoli said.

In the second match of this group Serbia secured a win against Turkey (2:0). Ivana Jorović overcame Çağla Büyükakçay 6:2, 6:3, while Aleksandra Krunić was better than Pemra Ozgen 3:6, 6:4, 6:2.

Serbia and Croatia are on the ladder with two wins, while Georgia and Turkey have two defeats. Croatia will play against Serbia on Friday. 

Only the first-place teams from the group stage will have the opportunity to compete for a place in World Group II. The winner of Group B will play against the first-placed team of Group A which holds the UK, Hungary, Greece and Slovenia.

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

Croatian tennis player Donna Vekić achieved the biggest win of her career on Friday. 

Croatia’s best tennis player Marin Čilić advanced to the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday, though it was no walk in the park. 

Great results for Croats in the Australian open as Marin Čilić, Petra Martić, and Donna Vekić advance to the second round. 

Osijek tennis player Donna Vekić has placed in the quarterfinal of the WTA tournament in Brisbane, the Brisbane International! 

The top Croatian tennis players will fight in the first Grand Slam tournament of the 2019 season - the Australian Open. 

Croatian tennis player Borna Ćorić advanced to the 2nd round of the US Open.