April 11, 2022 - The Croatia women's tennis team defeated Sweden 3-0 in the 1st round of Group B at the Billie Jean King Cup, hosted in Antalya from Monday to Saturday.

The first point for Iva Majoli's team was brought by the best junior in the world, 16-year-old Petra Marčinko, who defeated Jacqueline Cabaj Awad 6-0, 6-4 in her debut for the senior national team. Croatia's victory was secured by Ana Konjuh, who defeated Caijs Wilda Hennemann 6-1, 6-3, coming back from 0-3 in the second set.

Petra Martić and Donna Vekić secured the final 3-0 without losing a set, beating Fanny Oestlund and Kajsa Rinaldo Persson 6-2, 6-4 in the doubles match.

After the first round, Croatia took the leading place in the group, ahead of Slovenia and Austria, which also started with victories. After the singles matches, Slovenia secured a victory against Georgia, and Austria did the same against Bulgaria. 

Bulgaria will be the next rival for Croatia, scheduled for Tuesday, starting at 9 am Central European Time.

After Bulgaria, Croatia will face Slovenia on Wednesday, Georgia on Thursday, and Austria on Friday.

 The group winner will directly qualify for the playoffs for the 2023 Final Tournament, while the second-placed team from Group B will play against the second-placed team from Group A for the last, third place leading to the playoffs.

Playoff matches are scheduled for November this year and are played on a host-away system.

"I am glad that we are all together and in the strongest lineup after a long time. Our national team includes Petra Martić, Ana Konjuh, Donna Vekić, Petra Marčinko, and Tara Würth, and Antonia Ružić is traveling with us. This year, the competition format is challenging; we are looking for first place in the group with five other national teams. We are one of the favorites on paper, but it should be confirmed on the court. We must not underestimate anyone; surprises are common in a competition like this. Let's remember last year's success of our Davis Cup national team," said coach Iva Majoli before the tournament. 

"The fact that we will be in the strongest team is a great advantage. Five matches should be played in six days, and all players will compete."

Source: HRT

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March 20, 2022 - The amazing 16-year-old Petra Marčinko has topped Elisabetta Cocciaretto to clinch a new title in Antalya - and her second ITF Turkey title in a week! 

For the second week in a row, the world's best junior won the professional ITF tournament in Turkey with a prize fund of $25,000. In the final match, after a great fight in three sets, Marčinko defeated 21-year-old Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto (242nd on the WTA list) - 1:6, 6:4. 6:4.

Unlike their clash last week, the Italian was much closer to success this time. Marčinko opened the match poorly and lost the first set 6:1, but then gathered the strength to come back to win 4:6, 4:6 and turn the match in her favor for yet another title in her young career. This is Petra’s second ITF title in two weeks and her 24th win in a row. Last week, the 16-year-old reached her first title in professional singles tournaments after defeating France's Carole Monnet (279th on the WTA list) convincingly in two sets - 6:4, 6:1.

To put things into perspective, Petra Marčinko is the most successful female tennis player in the world this season with 24 wins, losing for the last time on October 15 last year. Her greatness is measured in that Rafael Nadal leads in the men's competition, losing last on December 18, 2021, against Shapovalov with 19 consecutive wins. 

In January, Marčinko also became the world's best junior tennis player and won the Australian Open Juniors title at the beginning of the year.

The Zagreb tennis player who turns 17 in December and only began playing at the senior level this year has shown her incredible talent with these two titles in Antalya. She will also look forward to a huge leap in the world rankings. Namely, before these two tournaments, Marčinko was 928th, and now she should place around 420th on the WTA list. 

Source: Gol.hr and HTS

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March 19, 2022 - The unstoppable winning streak of Petra Marčinko continues. The world's best junior will play in her second consecutive final, this time at the ITF Turkey 10A tournament in Antalya!

Petra Marčinko continued her winning streak and was ruthless against 27-year-old Chinese tennis player Yafan Wang (WTA - 316th), winning 6-0, 6-0 in 62 minutes in the ITF semifinal in Antalya, Turkey on Saturday. 

The best junior in the world reached her ninth consecutive victory in the senior competition in difficult, windy conditions, and her 23rd win in total, if we add the last three junior tournaments in which she competed. She will fight for her second consecutive title in Antalya on Sunday, where she won her first Senior ITF tournament last week.

The 16-year-old from Zagreb adapted to the conditions and left Yafan Wang without a game. Wang is a well-known name in the tennis world - she has beaten top 10 players, won the WTA tournament in Acapulco in 2019 and is certainly a player who deserves respect. Two and a half years ago, she was 47th in the WTA rankings for singles. 

Marčinko took advantage of all six break opportunities while Wang able was unable to take any of her five chances. 

On Sunday, Marčinko will fight for the trophy against 21-year-old Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto (WTA - 242), who was better than 17-year-old Russian Diana Schneider (WTA - 857) in the semifinals 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, and who is in second place in the junior rankings.

Marčinko also played against Cocciaretto in Antalya last week, defeating her 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinal match. She will fight for her second consecutive title in Antalya on Sunday where she won her first senior ITF tournament last week.

With this week's placement in the final, Marčinko made a new leap in the world ranking and secured the 470th spot on the WTA list.

Source: HRT

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March 13, 2022 - Petra Marčinko has won her first professional singles title! This comes after the 16-year-old tennis sensation was named the world's best junior in 2021 and won the Australian Open Juniors in January. 

Petra Marčinko is the winner of the ITF tennis tournament in Antalya, Turkey! On Sunday, the best junior tennis player in the world from Zagreb fought for her first title in a senior competition at the $25,000 ITF tournament in Antalya, Turkey.

The 16-year-old reached her premier title in professional singles tournaments after defeating France's Carole Monnet (279th on the WTA list) convincingly in two sets - 6:4, 6:1.

The French tennis player offered more resistance in the first set, in which it was equal at 3:3, and then won only one of the next nine games. The left-handed Monnet already has six ITF titles in her career and won all six at tournaments in the Tunisian city of Monastir, in 2019 and 2020, on hard courts.

This is the 17th consecutive victory for Marčinko and the 11th in 2022. After this success, Petra expects excellent progress on the WTA list; from 928th place, she will jump to 572nd place for a new career ranking.

Marčinko needed two hours and 26 minutes of great fighting to win the semifinal against 22-year-old Ipek Oz on Saturday. Marčinko beat Oz (WTA - 274) 7:6 (3), 1:6, 6:3.

Recall, the world's no. 1 junior defeated Belgium's Sofia Costoulas 7:5, 6:1 in the Australian Open final in Melbourne in January. The young Zagreb native thus became the fourth Croatian female tennis player to succeed at the Australian Open Juniors after Mirjana Lučić (1997), Jelena Kostanić (1998), and Ana Konjuh in 2013. She also broke the Croatian drought of winning Junior Grand Slams - the last time Borna Ćorić and Ana Konjuh did it was at the 2013 US Open.

Petra also became the first player in history to win the most prestigious junior tournament - Orange Bowl - in singles and doubles competitions and ended last year as the best junior in the world. 

Marčinko defeated the seventh junior in the world, Russian Diana Schneider, in the final of the Orange Bowl in three sets (3:6, 6:1, 6:3). Petra reached her second title with Schneider in the doubles final, celebrating 7:6, 6:0 against the Czech team Brenda and Linda Fruhvirotva.

Source: HTS

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January 29, 2022 - Petra Marčinko has done it all in Melbourne! The 16-year-old Croatian tennis player became the Australian Open Juniors champion! 

The world No. 1 junior defeated Belgium's Sofia Costoulas 7:5, 6:1 in the final in Melbourne. This is her 12th consecutive victory, combining the titles at the Orange Bowl and the Australian Open.

The young Zagreb native thus became the fourth Croatian female tennis player to succeed at the Australian Open Juniors after Mirjana Lučić (1997), Jelena Kostanić (1998), and Ana Konjuh in 2013. She also broke the Croatian drought of winning Junior Grand Slams - the last time Borna Ćorić and Ana Konjuh did it was at the 2013 US Open.

Marčinko did most of the work of the final in the first set, in which Costoulas led 5:4. Marčinko then won seven consecutive games (for a 4-0 advantage in the second set) and ultimately settled the match in her favor.

Her time to shine ?

?? Petra Marcinko · #AusOpen · #AO2022 pic.twitter.com/Hn1XUWJWaF

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 29, 2022

"It was a tough match. Playing at Rod Laver Arena was a great experience. I was a little nervous at the beginning because this is a really big stadium, and this was also my first Grand Slam final. But I kept my composure in the key moments. The game was the same level all the time; I didn't have big drops. It's a great thing for me to have this trophy, to win the Grand Slam," Petra said in the first reaction, adding:

"Now I feel great, I feel confident. I'm excited to see what it will look like on a professional level, which I will play this year, and see how it will go in stronger ITF tournaments and maybe some WTA. I'm excited about it," Marčinko concluded.

 Sofia Costoulas briefly commented on the match:

"I definitely had a good time. I played great matches here. I also had the opportunity to play at Margaret Court Arena and Rod Laver Arena. What else can you ask for? I am thrilled this week, but also a little disappointed with this today. Petra played a very good match," Costoulas said.

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January 28, 2022 - The current best junior tennis player in the world, 16-year-old Petra Marčinko from Zagreb, booked a spot in the Australian Open Juniors final after beating American Liv Hovde 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the semifinal.

On Saturday, Marčinko will fight for the title against 8th seed, 16-year-old Belgian Sofia Costoulas, who beat Australian Charlotte Kempenaers-Pocz 6-4, 6-1.

With the victory over 16-year-old American Hovde, Marčinko became the first Croatian tennis player to make it to the final of a junior Grand Slam tournament since Jana Fett was defeated in the Australian Open final in 2014. Tomorrow she can become the fourth Croatian to win the Australian Open Juniors singles competition, in which Mirjana Lučić (1997), Jelena Kostanić (1998), and Ana Konjuh (2013) have celebrated so far. 

The semi-final duel had several plots, the first of which was created by the weather in Melbourne. Namely, after Marčinko managed to equalize at 3-3 in the first set, storm clouds loomed over Melbourne which brought the match to a close. As the players could not continue on court number 5, the match was moved to Margaret Court Arena.

In the beginning, Petra adjusted better to the indoor conditions, broke for 5-4, and served to win the first set.

In the second set, Hovde started better and took a 4-1 lead with a break advantage. However, Marčinko fought back and equalized with a series of three games. But when she served in the tenth game to stay in the set, Petra missed 40-15 and made two double faults. Hovde took advantage and carried the match to the third set.

In the beginning, Marčinko twice created an advantage by taking away the serve in the first and third games. However, in the seventh game, for the third time in the deciding set, she managed to break the opponent and took the 5-3 lead.

Petra ultimately served for a spot in the final and after a total of 102 minutes of play, nailed her first match point to qualify for her first Grand Slam final.

Source: HRT

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December 15, 2021 - Young Croatian tennis player Petra Marčinko is the #1 junior tennis player in the world!

When it seemed that this tennis year could not be better for Croatia after numerous doubles titles and becoming Davis Cup finalists, 16-year-old Petra Marčinko reached new heights, reports HRT.

Namely, Petra became the first player in history to win the most prestigious junior tournament - Orange Bowl - in both singles and doubles competitions and ends the year as the best junior in the world! 

Marčinko defeated the seventh junior in the world, Russian Diana Schneider, in the final of the Orange Bowl in three sets (3:6, 6:1, 6:3). In the doubles final, Petra reached her second title with Schneider, celebrating 7:6, 6:0 against the Czech team Brenda and Linda Fruhvirotva.

After a phenomenal success at the Orange Bowl, the world's largest junior tournament, the 16-year-old from Zagreb jumped nine places in the new ITF ranking of the world's best juniors and took first place.

Petra was born on the day Croatia won the Davis Cup in 2005 and won her first international tournament on the same day Croatia lifted the second Davis Cup 2018. Some may see this symbolism as a good sign for Petra's future, but Petra has already proven that the Orange Bowl and the first place in the junior rankings are not a coincidence.

"Winning such an important tournament and being the first in the world means a lot. The biggest success in my career so far," says Petra, adding that she did not expect it.

"My goal was to be in the Top 10," she added.

Her Orange Bowl success was something no one in the 75-year-old tradition of the competition has succeeded. The only other Croatian to win this tournament was Ana Konjuh in 2012.

"Ana is one of my role models. I hear stories about her, and it's always been a part of my career," says Petra, who has already been named the best tennis player in Europe under 14, and behind her is an excellent season in which she celebrated at the recent tournament in Cape Town.

"The whole season mainly was pretty good. I started with South America; I won one of a few tournaments and played Grand Slams, which was a good experience. There was also the quarterfinal at the US Open; it is my best result at the Grand Slams, and now I recently won that Grade A. All together very well," says Petra. 

And how did it all start?

"I started playing tennis at the age of six. Dad took me to train. It was the first sport I ever tried, and I didn't even try anything else," said Petra.

"In about five years, I want to be on the WTA tour. I want to win the Grand Slam; that’s my goal. I think that's the most you can do in tennis," she concluded.

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