December 3, 2021 - Croatia advanced to the Davis Cup final after topping Serbia in the doubles match in Madrid on Friday! 

After Borna Gojo took the lead against Serbia in the Davis Cup semifinals, the world's first tennis player Novak Djokovic defeated Marin Cilic 6:4, 6:2 and tied the score at 1:1, leaving the doubles match to decide the Davis Cup final team. 

Several dozen Croatian fans arrived in Madrid on Friday from various parts of Europe, including Sweden and Ireland.

In the first duel of the day, Borna Gojo defeated Dušan Lajović. 

"I had control of the match in the first set, but then I stumbled to 4:2, but the coach and the fans managed to bring me back and lift me to play better in the second and third sets," said 23-year-old Gojo immediately after the match.

"The Davis Cup is a special competition, the pressure is higher than usual, I played well here, but the most important thing is that I brought a point to the team," he concluded.

In the second singles match, Novak Djoković was better than Marin Čilić.

In the first set, Djokovic reached a break in the ninth game in which Čilić was 40-0. When he served to win the first set, the world's best tennis player saved four break points at 15-40 and gained an even better psychological advantage.

Djokovic won four games with two breaks in the second set and created an unattainable advantage. He reached a 6:4, 6:2 victory after one hour and 39 minutes of play. 

Čilić was judged by the poor realization of break points (0/8), while Djokovic used three of the eight break chances. 

It was the 20th match between Čilić and Djokovic in which Djokovic reached his 18th victory.

The national team that would secure their spot in the Davis Cup final was then left to the doubles, in which Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic met Novak Djokovic and Filip Krajinovic.

The first doubles team in the world beat Novak Djokovic and Filip Krajinovic 7:5, 6:1, bringing Croatia the Davis Cup final! 

Croatia will play against the winner of Germany and Russia. The final is scheduled for Sunday, December 5, 2021. 

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

December 2, 2021 - The Croatian men's tennis team will play against Serbia in the Davis Cup semifinals in Madrid on Friday. Serbia defeated Kazakhstan 2-1 in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, although they lost the first match.

The first point for Kazakhstan was secured by Mikhail Kukushkin, who after three hours and 18 minutes of play defeated Miomir Kecmanovic 7:6 (5), 4:6, 7:6 (11).

Kukushkin was in a good position when he won the first set and led 4:2 in the second, but Kecmanovic's series of seven games followed, which gave him a 3-0 advantage in the decisive third set. The Serbian tennis player had two consecutive match points at 5:3, but Kukushkin managed to break and took the game to a tie-break in the third set.

In that decisive game, Kecmanovic was the first to reach the advantage, had two more match points, one at 6:5, the other at 7:6, but even then he did not finish the match. Kukushkin reached his first match point with two consecutive points at 8:7, but the Kazakh also missed four. However, he managed to get the 5th match point in his 12:11 lead on Kecmanovic's serve.

In the second singles match, world #1 Novak Djokovic defeated Aleksandar Bublik 6:3, 6:4, bringing Serbia equal. An hour and 16 minutes of play were enough for Djokovic to win against Bublik, more than two hours less than it took Mikhail Kukushkin to bring Kazakhstan to the lead with a victory against Miomir Kecmanovic.

The winner was then decided by the doubles match, in which Djokovic and Nikola Cacic defeated Andrej Golubjev and Aleksandar Nedovjecov 6:2, 2:6, 6:3 after an hour and 37 minutes of play, bringing Serbia the semifinal match against Croatia, which is scheduled for Friday.

Recall, Croatia defeated Italy 2-1 in the quarterfinals in Turin on Monday.

Germany also reached the semifinals with a 2-1 victory against Great Britain on Tuesday, and Russia and Sweden will play in the last quarterfinal match on Thursday. The semi-final match between Germany and the better of the Russia-Sweden match will be played on Saturday.

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

November 29, 2021 - Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić secured Croatia's Davis Cup semi-final spot in Turin on Monday! 

In the first singles match of the Davis Cup quarterfinals in Turin on Monday, Borna Gojo defeated Lorenzo Sonega 7-6 (2), 2-6, 6-2, and Croatia took the lead against Italy (1-0). Marin Čilić, on the other hand, lost to Jannik Sinner 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 in the second singles match, leaving the doubles to decide who would book a spot in the Davis Cup semifinal. 

Borna Gojo (ATP-279) brought Croatia the first point, although his opponent was the 27th tennis player in the world and a big favorite in this match. However, Gojo managed to surprise his rival with brave play to bring Croatia closer to the semifinal.

The 10th tennis player in the world, Italy's Jannik Sinner, won the second singles match, topping Marin Čilić, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 3-6 to bring Italy and Croatia even (1-1). Čilić failed to take Croatia to the semifinals, although he served for the match in the second set. This was the first meeting between Čilić and Sinner. 

Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić faced Fabio Fognini and Jannik Sinner in the doubles match that concluded the quarterfinal meeting. The Croatian duo and best doubles team in the world this year won 6-3, 6-4 to take Croatia to the Davis Cup semifinal! Croatia will play either Serbia or Kazakhstan in the semifinal. 

Croatia has played in the semifinals of the Davis Cup four times so far and has won two titles.

In all three previous clashes between these two national teams, Italy had 3 wins to Croatia's 2. Only in Rome in 2001, the decision fell before the fifth match. In Dubrovnik in 2008, Mario Ančić defeated Simone Bolleli 3-2, and in Turin in 2013, Fognini was better than Ivan Dodig after five sets.

Croatia, as the last winner of the 'old' Davis Cup in 2018 against France, could not repeat their success in Madrid two years ago. In a difficult group against Spain and Russia, they lost both matches 0:3. 

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

November 25, 2021 - The Croatia national tennis team opened the Davis Cup finals in Turin with a clean sheet against Australia on Thursday. A look at Davis Cup day 1.

The end of the tennis season is reserved for the Davis Cup finals, held from November 25 to December 5. Croatia kicked off their group against Australia in Turin on Thursday. 

Croatia national team coach Vedran Martić officially changed his lineup on Wednesday, and instead of the injured Borna Ćorić, he called up Nino Serdarušić. Thus, Marin Čilić, Nino Serdarušić, Borna Gojo, Nikola Mektić, and Mate Pavić are the forces that will represent Croatian tennis in Turin.

In the first 1st match of Group D between Croatia and Australia, Borna Gojo, currently, the 276th player in the world, defeated Alexei Popyrin, the 61st player in the world, 7:6 (5), 7:5. An hour before the match at Alpitour hall, coach Vedran Martić was uncertain between choosing Gojo or Nino Serdarušić as the second singles player, and in the end opted for the 23-year-old from Split, although he is ranked lower than the Zagreb native. 

The second singles match followed between Marin Čilić (ATP-30) and Alex de Minaur (ATP-34). In a marathon of three sets, Marin Čilić found his way to victory topping the Australian 6:1, 5:7, 6:4.

Čilić violently started against De Minaur, took the first set (6:1) in 26 minutes, and took the 3:1 lead in the second set. De Minaur came back to win eight of the next 10 games and was up 2:0 in the deciding set. However, Marin came back with a vengeance and brought the winning point to the Croatia national team. This was their third duel and Čilić's second victory.

Croatia was then represented in the doubles competition by the best duo in the world, Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić, against John Peers and Alex de Minaur. Mektić and Pavić won 6:3, 6:1!

Croatia is in Group D with Hungary and Australia, and if they win first place, they will also play against the winner of Group E (Italy, USA, Colombia) in the quarterfinals, also in Turin. Croatia will play against Hungary on Sunday.

The first phase of the competition is held in six groups, and the six group winners and the two best second-placed national teams will move forward. Two singles matches and one doubles match will be played. 

Croatia, as the last winner of the 'old' Davis Cup in 2018 in Lille against France, did not become famous in Madrid two years ago. In the difficult group with Spain and Russia, they lost both matches 0:3, but there were objective reasons, such as Marin Čilić's injury, who did not even travel to Madrid, and Borna Ćorić withdrew after the first match. More than anything, coach Željko Krajan was dismissed a few days prior, there was a conflict among the players, the Croatian Tennis Federation sided with the players, and Franko Škugor took over the coaching role. 

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

November 19, 2021 - The No. 1 doubles team in the world, Croatian tennis players Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić, advanced to the Nitto ATP Finals semi-finals in Turin!

In the last match of the Green Group, they defeated Croatian tennis player Ivan Dodig and his Slovak partner Filip Polašek 6-4, 7-6 (6).

The Tokyo Olympic gold medalists thus remained in the competition to win their tenth tournament in 2021.

A break at 2:2 was enough for Mektić and Pavić to win the first set. With a 4:2 advantage, Mektić and Pavić had four consecutive break points and a 5:2 advantage, but Dodig and Polašek combined a few great points and stayed in the game.

And it nearly paid off for them, because with the Croatian duo's 5-4 advantage, Dodig and Polašek had two chances to equalize, but Pavič nailed two great serves to win the first set. 

Dodig and Polašek started the second set better and took the serve from Pavić for 2:0, but the Croatian aces immediately returned on Dodig's serve. By the end of the set, Pavić excelled with three fantastic returns in the tie break. With one, Pavić secured the second match point.

With two victories and one defeat, Mektić and Pavić took second place in the Green Group. Their semifinal opponent, which will be the winners of the Red Group, will be learned on Friday.

Dodig and Polašek finished third in the group with one win and two defeats.

First place in this group was secured by Spaniard Marcel Granollers and Argentinean Horacio Zeballos with victories against Dodig and Polašek and Mektić and Pavić in the first two rounds. On Thursday, they lost an unimportant duel to German Kevin Krawietz and Romanian Horia Tecau, who remained last in the group despite the victory.

The Nitto ATP Finals crown the end of the ATP Tour season, featuring only the world's best eight qualified singles players and doubles teams. The tournament is held at Turin’s Pala Alpitour stadium, Italy’s largest indoor sporting arena, from 2021-2025. 

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

November 7, 2021 - Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić are the world's #1 doubles team in 2021! 

On the ATP ranking, Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić will finish 2021 as the world's best doubles team. Only American Rajeev Ram and Briton Joe Salisbury threatened to catch Pavić and Mektić, though thanks to the outcome of the Paris Masters, the Croatian duo was unattainable. 

This is the third time Pavić has finished the year as part of the world's best doubles team, and Nikola Mektić is the third partner with whom Pavić reached the top. Last year, Pavić and Brazilian partner Bruno Soares were named #1, and in 2018, he was the best in combination with Austrian partner Oliver Marach.

"I'm thrilled. True, this is my third time in the last four years with a third partner, but I achieved it for the first time with a Croatian, which is a great achievement for us personally, but also for Croatian tennis in general," said Mate Pavić in a statement from ATP Tour.

Mektić will finish at the top of the ATP rankings for the first time this year.

"It is a nice achievement, especially after a season like the one we had. I was looking forward to it. When I saw how we were doing, it became one of the goals. It is nice to end the year at number 1, which is the crown of the whole season in which we had nice victories and great titles," said Nikola Mektić.

In a year full of success, the 32-year-old from Zagreb and the 28-year-old from Split won nine titles, including the Wimbledon trophy and a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Mektić and Pavić will still play in the final tournament of the eight best doubles teams in the world, where the Zagreb man triumphed last year with Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof. But, on the other hand, it is one of the few trophies Pavić does not have in his collection.

"We had a great season, and we are looking forward to playing in Turin at this year's ATP Final. We will try to end the season the way we started it," said Pavić.

ATP President Andrea Gaudenzi also congratulated the Croatian duo.

"Congratulations to Nikola and Mate on an exceptional season and number 1. It is impressive how they started the season and how much success they had in their first year together, and we should be proud of our achievements," said Gaudenzi.

Mektić and Pavić will be the first-seed at the ATP Finals, hosted in Turin for the first time from November 14 to 21, after the final tournament was played in London's O2 Arena from 2009 to 2020.

After the ATP Finals, Nikola and Mate will play for the Croatia Davis Cup national team again in Turin. They will play the group stage against Australia on November 25 and against Hungary on November 28.

Source: HRT

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

August 15, 2021 - The world's best Croatian tennis duo has done it again - Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić have reached their 12th final so far this year by advancing to the Canadian Open doubles final! 

Olympic gold medalists Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić advanced to the ATP Masters 1000 series finals in Toronto. In the semifinal match, they defeated German Kevin Krawietz and Romanian Horia Tecau 7-6 (3), 7-6 (12).

Mektić and Pavić were more successful in both tie breaks during the match. 

In the first set, each side equalized once on their opponent's service - Krawietz and Tecau in the 8th game, and Mektić and Pavić in the 11th game, but failed to win the deciding point. In the tie break, Mektić and Pavić took the lead at 3-0, then 6-1, and convincingly brought the first set to an end.

The Croatian side was better in the second set in which they had four break points, one in the 6th and three more in the 8th game, but they failed to materialize them. Krawietz and Tecau took a 4-0 lead, then a 5-1 lead in the second tie break, and it looked like an extended tie-break would be played, but Mektić and Pavić reached 5-5, followed by a series of 15 points in a row won by the serving pair.

Krawietz and Tecau had four set points in that series, and Mektić and Pavić had three match points. However, the series was interrupted by the Croatian side's 13-12 lead when they used their fourth match point.

This is already the 56th victory for Mektić and Pavić in 2021, with only nine defeats. With this win, they have thus reached their 12th final. So far, they have won nine titles, and on the way to the tenth, they will face American Rajeev Ram and the Briton Joe Salisbury who defeated Belgians Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen in the semifinal. 

Source: HRT

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

ZAGREB, 14 Aug, 2021 - The local authorities in Split-Dalmatia County have recently decided to reward the four Olympic medalists, who hail from this Croatian region, and the two of them who were Olympic champions in their events in Tokyo received the highest reward, 25,000 kuna at a ceremony in Split on 9 August.

Those were Matea Jelić, who grabbed the Olympic gold medal in the women's taekwondo 67kg final, and Mate Pavić, who was a member of the Croatian pair that won Olympic men's doubles tennis title.

A reward of 20,000 kuna was given to sailor Tonči Stipanović, who bagged silver in the men's one-person dinghy laser event at the Tokyo Games, while a reward of 15,000 kuna was for the Olympic bronze medallist Toni Kanaet in the taekwondo 80kg men event.

During the 23 July-8 August Olympic Games in Tokyo, Croatia won eight medals: three golds, three silvers and two bronzes.

The latest Croatian Olympic champions are thus taekwondoist Jelić, rowers Valent and Martin Sinković in the men's pair, and the Croatian tennis players -- Pavić and Nikola Mektić -- who won Olympic men's doubles tennis title.

The three silvers were grabbed in the above-mentioned sailing event as well as in the men's doubles tennis event (Marin Čilić and Ivan Dodig) and in the men's horizontal bar (Tin Srbić).

Apart from Kanaet, the other bronze medallist was a rower, Damir Martin, who won bronze in the men's single sculls.

Croatia placed 26th out of 93 states in the rankings of medal winners at the 32nd Olympics in Japan while the most successful were U.S. athletes with 39 gold medals, 41 silvers and 33 bronzes won.

For more on sports, follow TCN"s dedicated page.

For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

August 14, 2021 - The unstoppable Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić are in the Canadian Open doubles semis after defeating Dutch player Matwe Middlekop and Australian player Luke Saville 6-3, 6-7 (6), 10-7 in the quarterfinals.

Olympic gold medalists Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić achieved their 17th consecutive victory and advanced to the semifinals of the ATP Masters 1000 Series tournament in Toronto, where they defeated Dutch player Matwe Middlekop and Australian Luke Saville 6-3, 6-7 (6), 10-7 in the quarterfinals.

Although they had to play three sets, Mektić and Pavić did not allow their opponents any break points during the match.

The world’s best doubles team is one match away from their 12th final this season and will have to achieve it against German Kevin Krawietz and Romanian Horia Tecau who are the 4th seeded pair in Toronto. 

For the placement in the semifinals, Krawietz and Tecau defeated Russian Aslan Karacev and Serbian Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 3-6, 10-3.

Another Croatian tennis player, a silver medalist from Tokyo Ivan Dodig, is playing for the semifinals. With his new partner, Indian Rohan Bopann, he will play in the quarterfinals against the third seed, American Rajeev Rama and Briton Joe Salisbury.

Recall, after winning eight ATP tournaments in their first season playing together, the most important of which is Wimbledon, Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić also became Olympic champions and justified their status as the first seed of the tournament in Tokyo. The duo won the fourth and fifth medals in the history of Croatian tennis at the Olympic Games earlier this summer. 

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE. 

July 30, 2021 - Mate Pavić and Nikola Mektić have taken the gold medal in the all-Croatian Olympic doubles final against Marin Čilić and Ivan Dodig! 

Croatia increased its collection of medals at the Olympic Games in Tokyo today by winning both the gold and silver in the final of the tennis doubles tournament, in which Mate Pavić and Nikola Mektić, and Marin Čilić and Ivan Dodig met on Friday. 

First seed Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić reached the finals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over the USA's Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren, while Čilić and Dodig defeated New Zealand's Michael Venus and Marcus Daniello 6-2, 6-2.

Only for the third time in Olympic history, but for the first time in more than 100 years, doubles teams from the same country played in the men’s doubles final. So far, tennis players from the same country have played in the men's doubles final only twice - Great Britain in 1908 in London and team USA in 1904 in St. Louis.

The more dominant and well-coordinated Mektić and Pavić won the first set 6-4, though Čilić and Dodig came back fierce in the second with a break to win it 6-4.

The decision fell in a super tie-break that Mektić and Pavić opened with a furious 6:0. Čilić and Dodig managed to get closer at 8:6, but the best tennis pair in the world took the next two points for the Olympic gold. 

Slobodan Kadic

After winning eight ATP tournaments in their first season playing together, the most important of which is Wimbledon, Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić are the Olympic champions and justified their status as the first seed of the tournament. 

Slobodan Kadic

Thus, the fourth and fifth medals in the history of Croatian tennis at the Olympic Games were officially won. The first two were won in 1992 in Barcelona when Goran Ivanišević won bronze in singles and doubles with Goran Prpić. Mario Ančić and Ivan Ljubičić also took bronze in Athens in 2004.

Slobodan Kadic

Croatia is now on six Olympic medals in Tokyo. Gold went to Matea Jelić, Martin and Valent Sinković, and Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić. Ivan Dodig and Marin Čilić are the first silver Croatian athletes from Tokyo, and Toni Kanaet and Damir Martin won bronze. 

Slobodan Kadic

To follow the latest sports news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

To learn more about sport in Croatia, CLICK HERE.