September 9, 2020 - Croatia's last two representatives Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic will meet in the doubles final of the US Open!

For the first time in his career, Nikola Mektic will play in the final of a Grand Slam tournament in the men's doubles competition!

After the semifinals of Wimbledon 2017 and Roland Garros 2018, the Zagreb native took a step further in New York. Mektic and Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof surpassed the 3rd seed, American Rajeev Rama and British Joe Salisbury in the semifinal match in two sets - 7:6 ( 3), 6:4.

The key moment of the duel happened in the ninth game of the second set when Ram and Salisbury lost their serve for the second time in the match. Mektic will be looking for his second Grand Slam title (the first he won this year at the Australian Open in mixed doubles with Czech partner Barbora Krejcikova) against countryman Mate Pavic and his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares.

Mate Pavic managed to advance to the doubles finals of the US Open with Soares after defeating Royer and Tecau 6:4, 7:5 in the semifinals after an hour and 26 minutes of play.

In the second set, Rojer and Tecau served for the set at 5:3, but Pavic and Soares managed to return the break, reached another, and advance to the final. The Croatian doubles final will be played on Thursday. 

Borna Coric failed to make it to the semifinals of the US Open. Coric's campaign in New York was cut short in the quarterfinals by the 7th-best tennis player in the world, German Alexander Zverev, who won in four sets - 1:6, 7:6 (5), 7:6 1), 6:3.

Until the middle of the second set, it seemed that Borna could surprise Zverev - he started the match very well, easily took the first set, and took the lead with 4:2 in the second. But Zverev caught the right rhythm and equalized thanks to a tie-break.

In the third set, Zverev was the first to break for 2:1, Borna immediately fought back, and the story later ended again in the 13th game, which Zverev took without any major problems.

The fourth set was dominated by the German tennis player who, after a break in the eighth game, managed to bring the match to an end. Borna scored five aces (Zverev 18) during the match, had a first-serve percentage of 72 percent, and used only four of 15 break points (Zverev three of eight). It was their fifth meeting and Zverev's second victory.

Source: HTS

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September 7, 2020 - Wonderful news from New York this morning as Borna Coric advances to his first Grand Slam quarterfinal! 

Croatian tennis player Borna Coric has advanced to his first quarterfinal of a Grand Slam tournament with a 7:5, 6:1, 6:3 victory over Australian Jordan Thompson. Coric defeated Thompson after two hours and ten minutes of play.

After the epic match and the incredible turnaround against the sixth-best player in the world, Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (6:7 (2), 6:4, 4:6, 7:5, 7:6), Coric had a much easier job against the 63rd-best tennis player in the world.

The Australian dropped his serve early for 2:1 in favor of Coric, but came back and equalized at 5:5. That was all we saw last night from Thompson, and until the end of the match, Borna Coric was the only one visible on the court.

The second and third sets went easier, as Coric broke his rival in the second with three breaks, while in the third, one was enough for a spot in the quarterfinal.

? if you're into your first #USOpen quarterfinal pic.twitter.com/8nV620jzty

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 7, 2020

In the quarterfinals of the US Open, Coric will face the seventh-best player in the world, German player Alex Zverev. In their meetings so far, Borna leads 3:1. Their only match at a Grand Slam tournament was in 2017 at the US Open when Borna won 3:1.

Nikola Mektic and Dutchman Wesley Koolhof will play in the doubles semifinal of the US Open! Eighth-seed Nikola and Koolhof won the quarterfinals match 7:6 (6), 6:3 against the Belgian duo Sander Gille / Joran Vliegen.

The Croatian-Dutch pair went through the first part of the road to victory by winning the tie-break in the first set, in which Gille and Vliegen had two set points at 6:4. In the second set, a break in the fourth game was enough.

Passing the quarterfinals, Mektic reached his third semifinal in the men's doubles of Grand Slam tournaments, after Wimbledon in 2017 (with Franko Skugor) and Roland Garros in 2018, when he played with Austrian Alexander Peya. On the way to the first final, their rivals will be the third-seeded American Rajeev Ram and Briton Joe Salisbury.

Last year's quarterfinal at Roland Garros remains the best result for Petra Martic at Grand Slam tournaments. Kazakhstani Julia Putinceva beat the best Croatian female tennis player and 8th-seed in the round of 16 of the US Open. The match ended 6:3, 2:6, 6: 4 for the 35th-best female tennis player in the world.

Petra started the match poorly, but after 15 minutes, Putinceva had a 5:0 lead and, although Martic continued to play much better, she did not miss the opportunity to win that set.

The second set was another story. After 2:2, Martic equalized for 1:1 thanks to a great game and a great series. And when a complete turnaround was expected, Petra stopped, allowed Putinceva to take over the game and quickly lead 4:0, and later 5:1.

However, Petra did not give up, she managed to reduce the score to 5:4, but Putinceva managed to serve for her biggest career result. Martic scored four aces during the match, had a first-serve percentage of 59 percent, and used four of 10 break points. During the match, she made 39 unforced errors (Putinceva 25) and scored 40 winners (Putinceva 26).

Source: HTS

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September 3, 2020 - Petra Martic and Borna Coric are the first Croatian representatives to advance to the US Open's third round. Donna Vekic and Marin Cilic will play in the second round today.

Petra Martic was the first of the Croatian representatives to advance to the 3rd round of the US Open, after defeating Ukrainian Katerina Bondarenko (349th on the WTA list) in the 2nd round on Wednesday without any major problems. Martic celebrated 6:3, 6:4.

Petra was especially dominant at the beginning of the first set, where she quickly took a 5:1 lead. Bondarenko reduced it to 5:3, but couldn't do more than that.

The second set was far more uncertain and was decided after a break in the 10th game. Martic scored eight aces with a first-serve percentage of 64 percent and used only four of 16 break points.

To advance to the round of 16, she will play against Russian Varvara Gracheva, the 102nd-best player on the WTA list. They played recently in the 1st round of the WTA tournament in Prague, where Petra was better in two sets.

Borna Coric also advanced to the third round of the US Open and thus surpassed last year's result when he was forced to hand over the match to Grigor Dimitrov due to injury in the second round.

After a smooth victory in three sets against Pablo Andujar, Coric faced Juan Ignacio Londero. The match started with an early exchange of breaks, and the next came at 5:5 when Borna took the Argentine's serve and soon took the set with 7:5.

In the second set, Londero was the one who had the initiative, but at the end of the set, Borna returned and reduced the score to 5:4. Instead of directing the set towards a tie-break, he lost the next service game and automatically the set with 6:4.

In the third set, Borna missed too much. He started great and took a 4-1 lead, and instead of routinely doing the job and taking a 2-1 lead in sets, he allowed Londero to come back, and the Argentine took the set in a tie-break.

Coric was much more concentrated in the next two sets. In the fourth, he broke Londero twice and took the set with 6:2, and in the fifth, he broke in the fourth game, which was enough to advance to the next round. 

Coric will have a much harder job in the third round when he faces Stefanos Tsitsipas. 

Croatia's second female representative Donna Vekic passed the first round of the US Open. The Osijek native and 18th seed defeated Czech Kristyna Plišková (66th on the WTA list) - 3:6, 7:6 (6), 6:4.

Pliškova was close to victory; after winning the first set, in the second, she took the 5:3 lead, and at 5:4, she served for the match. Donna still managed to celebrate in the tie-break of the second set.

In the third set, she managed to find a way to succeed after a break in the ninth game. During the match, she scored six aces (Pliškova 16) with a first-serve percentage of 57 percent and used three of the eight break points. In the second round, she will play against Romanian Patricia Maria Tig, the world's 88th-best tennis player.

It took three hours and 33 minutes for Marin Cilic (ATP - 38th) to beat American Denis Kudla (ATP - 111th), which he reached after his opponent led 2-0 in sets and had a 5:3 lead in the third set. Cilic celebrated 6:7 (3), 3:6, 7:5, 7:5, 6:3. It was the eighth turnaround of this sort in Cilic's career, half of which occurred at the US Open, where he is playing for the 12th time.

Marin Cilic will play Slovak tennis player Norbert Gombos (104th on ATP list) in the second round on Thursday. 

Ivo Karlovic finished his performance at his 17th US Open. The 41-year-old from Zagreb was stopped in the first round by the Frenchman Richard Gasquet (51st on the ATP list) - 7: 6 (0), 7: 6 (4), 6:1.

Ivo missed his opportunity to do something more in this match in the second set in which he reached his only break in the duel, and later a 5:3 advantage. Still, Gasquet returned in the 10th game, and the story once again went to a tie-break in which the Frenchman took the 2-0 lead.

Ivo gave up in the third set. After the initial 1:1, the Frenchman went to victory with a large series. Ivo achieved 20 aces during the match with a first-serve percentage of 57 percent, and used one of six break points.

Of the three Croatian representatives in doubles who played in the 1st round of the US Open on Wednesday, Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic made their way further.

Mektic and Dutchman Wesley Koolhof (8th seed) celebrated at the start against Serbian Nikola Cacic and Indian Divi Sharan (6:4, 3:6, 6:3), while Pavic and Brazilian Bruno Soares (5th seed) topped Spaniard Marcel Granollers and Argentine Horace Zeballos - 3:6, 6:4, 6:4.

Franko Skugor and American Austin Krajicek lost to 3rd seed, American Rajeev Rama and Briton Joe Salisbury (6:2, 6:7 (5), 6:3).

Source: HTS

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February 1, 2020 - Nikola Mektic and Czech partner Barbora Krejčíková have won the mixed doubles title at the Australian Open!

Croatian tennis player Nikola Mektic and Czech partner Barbora Krejčíková defeated American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Briton Jamie Murray 5-7, 6-4, 1-0 (10-1) in the Australian Open final after 85 minutes of play.

Mektic has thus become the fourth Croatian tennis player to win a Grand Slam tournament in mixed doubles and has brought the 14th total Grand Slam title to Croatian tennis.

Mektic and Krejčíková were the first to come to a break at the beginning of the match and held that advantage until the tenth game in which the Croatian tennis player served. But at the deciding point, Mektic made a double error for an equal 5-5 game. Murray and Mattek-Sands won the next two games, bringing them the first set.

In the second set, the Croatian-Czech duo played four games with two breaks to lead 5-2. But again, Murray and Mattek-Sands broke on Krejčíková’s serve. Mektic didn’t repeat the same mistake of the first set and made it 6-4 in the second set, bringing the final decision to a prolonged tie-break.

In the tie-break, Mektic and Krejčikova played without error, went to 10-1, and after 85 minutes of play, became the new winners of the Australian Open.

This is Mektic’s first Grand Slam title in his second final, after losing in the US Open final in 2018 with Polish partner Alicja Rosolska.

Those #AO2020 victory smiles ?@B_Krejcikova x @NMektic#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/yLEzKKfXXP

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 1, 2020

Barbora Krejčíková thus defended last year's title, when she won with American partner Rajeev Ram. The Czech player also has two women's doubles titles with Katerina Siniakov (Roland Garros and Wimbledon 2018) and is unbeaten in Grand Slam finals.

Mektic and Krejčíková will split AUD 190,000, while the defeated finalists will earn AUD 100,000.

.@NMektic makes his debut speech as a Grand Slam winner ?#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/ZI4Ti6TEpA

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) February 1, 2020

Before Mektic, Grand Slam mixed doubles titles were won by Dragutin Mitic (Roland Garros in 1938 paired with Simonne Mathieu), Mate Pavic (US Open 2016 with Laura Siegemund and Australian Open 2018 with Gabriela Dabrowski) and record holder Ivan Dodig (Roland Garros 2018 & 2019 & Wimbledon 2019 with Latish Chan).

Iva Majoli (Roland Garros 1997), Goran Ivanisevic (Wimbledon 2001) and Marin Cilic (US Open 2014) boast individual Grand Slam titles, men’s doubles were won by Nikola Pilic (US Open 1970 with Pierre Barthes), Ivan Dodig (Roland Garros 2015 with Marcelo Melo) and Mate Pavic (Australian Open 2018 with Oliver Marach) and Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (Australian Open 1998 with Martina Hingis) triumphed in women's doubles.

Source: HRT

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January 31,  2020 - Croatian tennis player Nikola Mektic has made it to the mixed doubles final of the Australian Open!

Croatian Davis Cup national team player Nikola Mektic has reached the final of the mixed doubles at the first Grand Slam tournament of the season. Namely, at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Mektic and his Czech partner Barbora Krejchikov defeated Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski and Finnish player Henri Kontinen 3:6, 6:3, 10:5 in the semifinal on Friday.

Mektic and Krejchikov will face American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Briton Jamie Murray, who Mektic and Polish partner Alicja Rosolska lost to back in the US Open final in 2018.

Winners are grinners!

Fifth seeds @B_Krejcikova/@NMektic are the first team through to the #AO2020 mixed doubles final after def. Dabrowski/Kontinen 3-6 6-3 10-5.#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/tOoye4HxKB

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 31, 2020

Mektic is the final Croatian representative left in the competition.

Recall, Ivan Dodig was defeated in the semifinal of the men's doubles competition on Thursday. Namely, Dodig and Filip Polasek, who were the 4th-seed of the tournament,  surprisingly lost to Australians Max Purcell and Luke Saville 6:7(7), 6:3, 6:4. In the mixed doubles, Dodig and partner Latisha Chan lost in the quarterfinal to Gabriela Dabrowski and Henri Kontinen 7-5, 7-6(2).

Hungarian Timea Babos and Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic won the Australian Open for the second time in the women's doubles competition. They defeated first-seed Hsieh Su-Wei and Barbara Strycova on Friday 6:2, 6:1. Mladenovic now has four Grand Slam titles, and Babos one less.

Recall, Borna Coric was defeated in the first round of the Australian Open this year, while Petra Martic and Ivo Karlovic lost in the second round. Donna Vekic lost in the third round, while Marin Cilic lost in the round of 16. As for the doubles, Mate Pavic lost in the third round of the men's doubles with Brazilian partner Bruno Soares.

The next Grand Slam tournament on the itinerary is the French Open, or Roland Garros, which begins in May.

Source: HTS

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January 28, 2020 - Ivan Dodig will play in the Australian Open men’s doubles semifinal with partner Filip Polasek, and the mixed doubles quarterfinal with partner Latisha Chan. Nikola Mektic will also play in the mixed doubles quarterfinal with partner Barbora Krejčíková.

Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek are in the semifinal of this year's Australian Open! The Croatian-Slovakian duo, who is also the 4th-seed of the tournament, was better than Salvadoran Marcel Areval and Briton Jonny O'Mara, with a convincing 6:3, 6:2 victory in the quarterfinal match. To reach the Australian Open final, they will play against the winner of the match between Gonzalez / Skupski - Purcell / Saville. Recall, Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek won the third round after defeating brothers Bob and Mike Bryan - 6:3, 6:4.

Dodig remains Croatia's last representative in the men's doubles competition as American Austin Krajicek and Franko Skugor lost to Santiago Gonzalez and Ken Skupski in the third round - 6:3, 6:4. The furthest Ivan Dodig has advanced in doubles at the Australian Open was back in 2015, though he made it to the final of the mixed doubles in 2017.

Tuesday was also a successful day for both Croatian tennis players and in the mixed doubles competition, with Dodig and Nikola Mektic advancing to the quarterfinal. Dodig and Latisha Chan defeated Slovenian Andrea Klepac and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6:3, 4:6, 10:8 in the second round, while Nikola Metic and his Czech partner Barbora Krejčíková topped American Amanda Anisimova and Australian Nick Kyrgios of Australia 4:6, 6:4, 10:8.

Finally, great success was achieved by Antonia Ruzic, a 16-year-old player from Cakovec, and Belgian Sofia Costoulas, who advanced to the doubles quarterfinal at the Australian Open Juniors after defeating Australian representatives Olivia Gadecki and Amy Stevens in the second round - 6:1, 6:3.

Antonia Ruzic lost her first singles match in the junior tournament, but managed to book the second round of the doubles competition after knocking out the 5th-seed team in the first round, Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva of Andorra and Spain's Ana Mintegi Del Olmo - 6:3, 6:4.

Source: HTS

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January 8, 2020 - The Croatia tennis team remains without the quarter-final of the premiere edition of the ATP Cup. 

After celebrating in the first two rounds of Group E, Croatia faced the worst-case scenario in Sydney on Wednesday. Namely, Croatia lost all three matches to Argentina (3:0) and thus ended their run in the group for second place. After losing both singles matches (Marin Cilic lost to Guido Pella, ATP 25th) 7:6 (1), 6:3, and Borna Coric lost to Diego Schwartzman (ATP 13th) - 6:2, 6:2, they needed a win in the last doubles match to be in the top eight as the best runner-up. However, Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic failed to record an important point and were conquered by Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni - 3:6, 6:3, 10:2.

Cilic started well in the first match, leading 4:1, but then lost his serve for the first time in the tournament, and later the first set. In the second, he held on to 2:2, but in the end, it was Pella to win for the third time in their fourth encounter. 

Coric lost to Schwartzman in 75 minutes. The Argentina player saved both of Coric’s breaks, while the Zagreb native scored just 12 points on his opponent’s serve. It was their fourth encounter and Schwartzman's second win.

In the final doubles match, Dodig and Mektic quickly won the first set (6:3), though Argentina woke up, started to play and smoothly took the second. With complete dominance in the decisive tie-break, Argentina concluded the duel in their favor.

Thus, Belgium and Canada placed second for a spot in the quarter-final.

The quarter-final of the first ATP Cup includes Australia - UK, Argentina - Russia, Serbia - Canada, and Spain - Belgium. All matches will be played at the Ken Rosewall Arena in Sydney.

Final standings in Group E: 1. Argentina 2:1, 2. Croatia 2:1, 3. Poland 1:2, 4. Austria 1:2.

Source: HTS

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January 7, 2020 - In their second appearance in Group E at the ATP Cup in Sydney, the Croatia tennis team reached their second victory, topping Poland 2:1. Marin Cilic secured the first point for Croatia against Kacper Zuk (7:6 (8), 6:4). Hubert Hurkacz equalized with a surprisingly convincing victory against Borna Coric (6:2, 6:2), though Croatia’s doubles team of Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic were better than Hurkacz and Lukasz Kubot 6:2, 6:1.

The young Kacper Zuk (20), the 448th best tennis player in the world who played his first-ever ATP match on Monday, was inspiring against Marin Cilic, and in the tie-break of the first set, he reached the set-point (6:5). However, it was Marin to find the path to victory in two sets.

"I think my level of play was good; I was aggressive, served well. If I have to choose something that I was not happy with, then it is definitely utilizing my chances to break,” Marin said after the match. Marin used only one of the 13 opportunities to take Zuk’s serve. Zuk, on the other hand, did not use any of his four breaks. 

Hubert Hurkacz (37th on the ATP list) dominated Borna Coric in the second match. The Zagreb native made as many as 26 unforced errors during the match and won a total of eight points on Hurkacz’s serve.

"It was one of the best matches of my career so far," the 22-year-old  Hurkacz admitted after the match.

As for the doubles, it was a cat-and-mouse game where Hurkacz and Kubot scored just nine points on the return serve. In addition to the Croatian victory, the match will be remembered for a fantastic move by Ivan Dodig at a 3-0 lead in the second set. Ivan instinctively played a fantastic lob behind his back, which resulted in the eruptive applause of fans. It was one of the most beautiful and impressive points ever seen in a doubles competition.

Croatia is now on the verge of winning the group and only needs one win in the match against Argentina, which is scheduled for Wednesday. 

The only way Croatia can fail to qualify for the quarterfinals is in the event of a 3:0 defeat to Argentina and Austria's 3:0 victory against Poland. In this case, Croatia would have the weakest ratio.

One win against Argentina would be enough to put Croatia at the top to secure the quarterfinals. 

Marin Cilic will play against Guido Pella and will be the first to secure Croatia's spot in the quarterfinals. If he fails, a fight between Borna Coric and Diego Schwartzman will follow, followed by a doubles match.

Given the first two rounds, the safest pair would be Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic, who’ve won both matches thus far. 

In any case, Croatia is in a great position to qualify for the quarterfinals of the premier ATP Cup, in which they would meet the winner of Group D. This will very likely be Russia, who only needs to defeat Norway to secure the first place. 

Source: HTS

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January 5, 2019 - The Croatia national tennis team is off to a great start in Sydney for the first-ever ATP Cup, topping Austria 3:0 in their first round of games on Saturday.

At the premiere of the ATP Cup, in the first round of Group E in Sydney, Croatian tennis players defeated the Austria national team 3:0! 

The winning team was decided already after the singles matches - first Marin Cilic celebrated with a comeback against Dennis Novak (108th on ATP list) - 6:7 (4), 6:4, 6:4, and Borna Coric surprised the 4th best tennis player in the world, Dominic Thiem - 7:6 (4), 2:6, 6:3. 

In the doubles match, Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic were better than Austrian Jurgen Melzer and Oliver Marach 7:6 (4), 6:2.

Marin lost the first set to Novak, but found a way to celebrate in the end.

"It was an extremely difficult match, a real thriller. Dennis played at a high level. It was a great match to start the new season,” Marin said after the win.

Borna, who lost six matches to finish last season, opened 2020 with a massive win against Thiem. It was Borna’s second win in their five meetings thus far, and his 12th career win against one of the top 10 players in the world last year.

"I'm really happy. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect from this performance, especially since I didn't play my best tennis last season. Well, it was great. Even though I lost the second set, I felt I was playing really well. In the third set, I played bravely on important points, and in the end, it paid off. This success will further fill me with confidence for the matches to come,” Borna said with special thanks to the Croatia fans in attendance.

"Thanks to them for their support, they carried me through the whole match, and especially at the end of the match, when it was the hardest for me."

The key to Croatia’s doubles victory was winning the first set in which Dodig and Mektic were losing 5:3. At 5:4, they saved a set-point and after the tie-break lead 1:0. They had no problem in the second set.

“Despite the final 3:0, the whole round against Austria was extremely uncertain and interesting, with just the singles matches lasted for almost six hours. In the doubles, the first set was also exciting, but it was easier for us in the second,” Nikola Mektic said.

Croatia will play their second match on Monday against Poland, who lost to Argentina 2:1 in the first round.

Source: HTS

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November 20, 2019 - The Croatia tennis team will not defend their title at the Davis Cup this year. 

Gol.hr reports that the Croatia tennis team registered their second defeat in the final tournament of the new Davis Cup format. After losing to Russia 0:3 on Monday, the title defenders lost to Spain with an unreachable result of 0:2.

Roberto Bautista Agut scored the first point for Spain, beating Nikola Mektic 6:1, 6:3 in just 57 minutes of play. In the second match, Rafael Nadal, the world’s best tennis player, defeated Borna Gojo 6:4, 6:3 in 30 minutes.

Croatia was left with no prospect of reaching the quarterfinals, and thus without a chance to defend the title of Davis Cup.

Croatia needed a 3:0 win against Spain to stay in the top eight. However, without Marin Cilic, who did not travel to Madrid, and without Borna Coric, who retired from the tournament today due to exhaustion, it was nearly impossible to expect a 3:0 victory over Spain, led by Rafael Nadal.

After Coric pulled out on Tuesday, Nikola Mektic, who made his last singles appearance over two and a half years ago in the Cincinnati qualifiers, was chosen to save the day. 

Mektic and Bautista Agut, currently the ninth-best tennis player in the world, had never played one another before tonight. 

The Croatian tennis player won the first game, but that was all he showed in the rest of the set. With three breaks in 26 minutes, the Spaniard won the set with a score of 6:1. Agut continued his great series in the second set, receiving three games in a row. Mektic reduced it to 1:3, breaking Agut's nine-game streak.

By the end of the set, the 30-year-old Zagreb native no longer lost his serve, but failed to make up for the break and ended the set with a score of 6:3 for the Spaniard.

In the second match, the 21-year-old debutant for Croatia solidly resisted Nadal, especially in the first set.

Gojo held on to 4:4 in the first set, saving four break points - three in the first game and one in the seventh game. Unfortunately, in the ninth game, Nadal took away Gojo’s serve and then safely served for 6:4 after 45 minutes of play. In the second set, he lost his serve in the first and ninth games for the final score of 6:3.

Recall, the young Croatian tennis player, who played for American Wake Forest University, joined the Croatia team after Marin Cilic’s injury. 

Croatia will try to win a consolation point when Ivan Dodig and Ante Pavic face Marcel Granollers and Rafael Nadal in the final doubles match. 

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