September 4, 2020 - Donna Vekic and Marin Cilic join Petra Martic and Borna Coric in the third round of the US Open!

It was an extremely convincing performance by Donna Vekic in the 2nd round of the US Open, as it took the Osijek player only 69 minutes to win against Romanian Patricia Maria Tig (88th on the WTA list) with only three lost games - 6:2, 6:1.

The very beginning of the match suggested that Donna would have a far harder job, as Tig came to a break in the third game and took the lead with 2:1. But after that, her game quickly fell apart, and Donna lost only one more game by the end of the match.

During the match, Vekic scored four aces with a first-serve percentage of 66 percent, and used five of the nine break points. Her next opponent will be Bulgarian Cvetana Pironkova (a player with a protected ranking), who surprised the 10th seed, Spaniard Garbine Muguruza, in the 2nd round.

It took Marin Cilic more than three hours to advance to the third round of this year's US Open. Namely, Slovak Norbert Gombos (104th on the ATP list) proved himself in the 2nd round match as an extremely strong and challenging opponent who almost took the match to the fifth set.

Namely, at 1:2 in sets, Gombos had a 5:4 lead and two set points on Marin's serve, but he failed to realize them. After that, Cilic came to a break, and then to the victory - 6:3, 1:6, 7:6 (2), 7:5. It seems that the key to the outcome of the match was the third set in which Gombos led with 4:2, but Marin still managed to return and reach a 2:1 lead in the tie-break.

He scored 15 aces with a first-serve percentage of 63 percent and used four of the 12 break points. Marin now awaits the 2nd seed and 3rd best tennis player in the world, Austrian Dominic Thiem. They have played twice so far, and Thiem has celebrated in both matches.

Petra Martic will play her third-round match against Russian Varvara Andreyevna Gracheva on Friday, while Borna Coric will face Stefanos Tsitsipas. 

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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September 1, 2020 - Croatian representatives Borna Coric and Petra Martic have moved into the second round of the US Open!

Croatian tennis player Borna Coric advanced to the 2nd round of this year's US Open, overcoming Spaniard Pablo Andujar 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 at the start of the tournament. 

Coric, the 27th seed, took two hours and 23 minutes to win against the world's 53rd best tennis player.

The young Croatian tennis player had problems only in the first set, while he won convincingly in the second and third sets.

Andujar entered the match better. He won the first game, and then had the chance to break in the next two games on Borna's serve. However, he did not take advantage of any of the three opportunities. Coric received his first opportunity in the fifth game and immediately took the serve away from his opponent. But already in the next game, the 34-year-old Spaniard equalized at 3-3. The Spaniard also had the 5-4 lead, but Coric managed to equalize at 5-5, only to take the 6-5 lead in the next game, then calmly served for 7-5 and a 1-0 lead in sets.

Coric played the rest of the match almost without a mistake. In the second set, at 1-1, he took the serve from Andujar for the first time, and at 5-3, for the second time.

Borna opened the third set by winning three games in a row, and there was no turning back. The Spaniard reduced his lead to 3-1, only for Borna to win three more games in a row for the final 6-1.

Coric has never played against the 34-year-old Andujar, and in the 2nd round, he will play Argentine Juan Ignacio Londero, who beat Russian Evgeni Donskoy 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 at the start of the tournament. They have played once, this year in Rio de Janeiro, and Coric celebrated 7-6, 7-5.

Female Croatian representative Petra Martic needed two and a half hours and three sets to win against Czech player Tereza Martincova (136th on the WTA list) at the opening of this year's US Open - 5: 7, 6: 2, 6: 4.

The beginning of the match was not the best for Petra - the Czech took the first set after the break in the 12th game, though the situation improved for Petra after winning the second set. Still, Martincova took the lead in the deciding set with 3-1, and it seemed that the 8th seed was close to saying goodbye to the tournament this year. However, Martic came back and scored five aces during the match with a modest first-serve percentage of 49 percent and used only five of the 21 breakpoints. In the 2nd round, Martic plays against Ukrainian Katerina Bondarenko, 349th on the WTA list.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, which particularly affected New York, the Grand Slam is being held in special conditions.

The tennis players are housed inside a "bubble," most in two hotels, and those who can afford it have rented houses where they will be monitored 24 hours a day. No one is allowed to leave the bubble, so that the coronavirus does not enter inside. 

Source: HRT

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August 30, 2020 - Croatian tennis players have learned their opponents in the first round of the US Open, to be held from Monday, August 31, 2020, in New York.

The best-ranked Croatian tennis player Borna Coric will play Spaniard Pablo Andujar in the first round of the US Open. Marin Cilic will play against the American Denis Kudla, and Ivo Karlovic will face the Frenchman Richard Gasquet, while the two female Croatian representatives will face two Czech opponents - Petra Martic against Tereza Martincova, and Donna Vekic against Kristyna Plišková.

The US Open begins Monday, August 31, 2020, at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York and will end September 13.

For the first time since 2003, there were no title defenders in the draw, as Canadian Bianca Andreescu and Spaniard Rafael Nadal will not participate in this year’s tournament. 

The first seed is the best tennis player in the world, Novak Djokovic, who will play in the first round against the Bosnian-Herzegovinian representative Damir Dzumhur. The second seed, Austrian Dominic Thiem, will play against Spaniard Jaume Munar.

In the women's competition, only four of the top ten tennis players were in the draw, and the first-seed is third in the WTA rankings, Karolina Pliškova from the Czech Republic. Her rival is Ukrainian Angelina Kalinin. The second-seed is the current winner of the Australian Open, American Sofia Kenin, who will play against Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer in the first round.

Returning to the court, Belgium's Kim Clijsters will play against Russia's 21st-seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, and Serena Williams, who will try to win her 24th individual Grand Slam title, has won compatriot Kristie Ahn as her rival.

Coric (ATP - 33rd) has never played against 34-year-old Andujar (ATP - 53rd), and the winner of the 2014 US Open Marin Cilic (ATP - 37th) beat 28-year-old Kudl (ATP - 111th) in four sets (6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5) five years ago in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.

The oldest player in the tournament, 41-year-old Ivo Karlovic (ATP - 125th), will compete in his 16th appearance at the US Open for the seventh time in his career against seven-year-younger Gasquet (ATP - 50th), who defeated him five times. But Karlovic's only victory came at the US Open nine years ago, when Ivo celebrated in four sets (6-4, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6).

Coric was the 27th-seed in the upper part of the draw, while Cilic (31st) and the unplaced Karlovic were in the lower half.

Petra Martic (WTA - 14th) was placed eighth, and 25-year-old Tereza Martincova (WTA - 135th) was defeated (6-4, 7-5) in their only match played in 2015 in Bad Gastein, Austria.

Donna Vekic (WTA - 24th) will enter the duel against 28-year-old Kristyna Plišková (WTA - 64th) with a 2-1 advantage in mutual duels, and as the 18th-seed of this year's US Open, where she will defend her best result at the Grand Slam tournaments - last year's quarterfinals, when Swiss Belinda Benčić stopped her.

Martic was in the upper half and Vekic in the lower half of the draw.

Source: HRT

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August 7, 2020 - Croatian tennis player Petra Martic advanced to the quarterfinal of the WTA tournament in Palermo - the Palermo Ladies Open. In the 2nd round match, after more than two and a half hours of play, she defeated Russian Ludmila Samsonova 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.

Martic, who was appointed the first seed of the tournament in Palermo for the first time in her career, had a tough match against the 21-year-old Russian, currently the 117th player in the world.

In the first set, Martic managed to deny Samsonova's eight set-points, but not the ninth. Martic then had a break point, which Samson managed to save. With a 6-5 advantage, the Russian again reached three consecutive set points, Martic saved the first two, but could not find the strength to save the third and lost the first set.

However, already in the first game of the second set, Martic finally took Samsonova's serve and certainly kept that advantage until the 4-3 lead. She then played a feeble service game and lost the edge without winning a point, but she did not let herself get down, and in the next game, she retaliated and served for the set. That game wasn't easy, either. Samsonova secured two new break points, but Martic then played four excellent points to level the score.

Martic had her first break in the third set for a 2-1 advantage, and in the continuation of the duel, she served better and better and did not allow the Russian the opportunity to return. With a new break for 5-2, it was clear that Martic would be the winner.

During the match, Martic scored six aces with a first-serve percentage of 69 percent and saved as many as 12 of her opponent's 14 break points. For her second WTA semifinal in 2020 (Dubai) she will play against another qualifier, Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, the 119th tennis player in the world.

"The struggle was real out there today. She's not the type of player I like to play. She plays really fast, flat, low, on this court it can be tricky with bad bounces. Overall I really didn't really enjoy myself. I was just going to have to fight," Petra Martic said for Eurosport.com.

The quarterfinal is scheduled for Friday at 4 pm.

Source: HRT

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August 4, 2020 - Croatian tennis player Donna Vekic (WTA - 24th) became the first winner in the continuation of the season on the WTA Tour, defeating Dutch player Arantxa Rus (WTA - 70th) 6-1, 6-2 in the 1st round match of the WTA tournament in Palermo, Italy. Vekic defeated Rus in 75 minutes of play.

HRT reports that in the 2nd round, Vekic will play against Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto (WTA - 156th), who defeated Slovenian Polona Hercog (WTA - 45th) on Monday. 

It took just over half an hour of play for the 24-year-old from Osijek to win the first set in which the 29-year-old Dutch player won the first game, though she struggled to win another after that. Moreover, Vekic won eight games, took the lead with a break advantage in the second set, and had four chances to lead 3-0. Donna missed a few easy forehands and briefly allowed Rus to return to the match.

Rus managed to equalize at 2-2, but Vekic soon regained control of the court, and with a new break for a 4-2 lead, created an advantage that she never lost. With yet another stellar serve, she reached a convincing victory.

Vekic used 6 of the 13 break points and saved three of the four break points Rus had. The Dutch player was particularly vulnerable on her second serve, where she scored just three of 15 points.

In Palermo, the best ranked Croatian tennis player is Petra Martic (WTA - 15th) was set as the first seed, and on Tuesday in the 1st round, she will play against Belgium's Alison Van Uytvanck (WTA - 57th).

The prize fund of the women's tournament Internazionali Femminili di Palermo is 163,000 euro. The tournament is played on outdoor clay courts at the Country Time Club and has been part of the WTA tour since 1990. 

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February 21, 2020 - No. 8 seed Petra Martic won the quarterfinal match against Anett Kontaveit at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

HRT and WTA report that Croatian tennis player Petra Martic advanced to the semifinal of the WTA tournament in Dubai, beating Estonian player Anett Kontaveit (WTA-24) - 7-6 (4), 6-1.

Martic (WTA-15) continued securing good results in Dubai, booking three wins without losing a set. Against Kontaveit, Petra won the first set, in which she was down 0-2, then saved a set point at 5-6, and in the tie-break, came back from 1-3. 

In the second set, Martic was too strong for Kontaveit, taking the 3-0 lead and easily ended the match after an hour and 43 minutes of play.

Petra Martic advances to the @DDFTennis semifinals!

Defeats Kontaveit 7-6(4), 6-1. pic.twitter.com/7N5uQPC5yQ

— WTA (@WTA) February 20, 2020

This was the first time Martic and Kontaveit met.

"The season has just started. Basically, I haven't played much. I was trying to find my rhythm the first few tournaments. It seems like it worked out here," Petra said after the match.

"I think these conditions really suit my game well. The ball is bouncing really high. It's great for my kick serve, for my spin ball.  I don't know why I didn't play well before, but right now I'm just trying to really just enjoy this tournament."

Martic will play in the semifinal against the 19th best player in the world, Kazakhstani Elena Rybakina, who is in fantastic form and just knocked out Australian Open winner Sofia Kenin and second-seed Czech player Karolina Plishkova in Dubai.

"I like those kind of different players, like some of big hitters, some of big servers, some are slicing around. It's fun," she assessed. "It's going to be a nice challenge, I think. I hope I can cause some damage with my serve, as well. We'll see who is going to do it better."

Martic was a WTA finalist twice last season. Recall, she won the Istanbul Cup in April and lost to Karolina Pliskova in the final of Zhengzhou last autumn.

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January 23, 2020 - Marin Cilic and Donna Vekic have advanced to the third round of the Australian Open.

Marin Cilic is in the third round of the Australian Open! After five-sets, Cilic found his way to victory against the 21st best player in the world, Frenchman Benoit Paire - 6:2, 6:7(6), 3:6, 6:1, 7:6(10:3).

The match looked promising for Cilic at first as he easily won the first set. However, in the second, Cilic had a 5:2 lead and allowed Paire to get back in the game. The Frenchman returned with a break, and after the tie-break at 3:5, he won the second set. 

Cilic lost the third set thanks to a break in the eighth game, but after that moment, he did not lose his serve for the rest of the match. 

In just 27 minutes, Cilic took the fourth set, while the fifth set went to an extended tie-break in which Marin reached his fifth victory in his sixth meeting with Paire. Marin totaled 17 aces (Paire had 30) with a first-serve percentage of 67%. Marin’s rival in the fight for the round of 16 will be the 9th best tennis player in the world, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.

Donna Vekic will join Cilic in the third round of the Australian Open for the first time in her career. The Osijek native and 19th-seed of the tournament defeated French player Alize Cornet, the 61st best tennis player in the world - 6:4, 6:2 without any problems.

Donna had a bit more work to do in the first set, where, after a 3:1 lead, she allowed Cornet to return to 3:3. However, immediately in the next game, Vekic broke her opponent, which was enough to win the first set.

In the second set, Donna was up 4:1, which was an unattainable advantage for Cornet. This was their second match and the first victory for Vekic, who will play Iga Świątek in the third round on Saturday. 

Petra Martic is out of the Australian Open after losing to Julia Goerges 4:6, 6:3: 7:5. This was Goerges third victory in their third meeting. Ivo Karlovic is also out after losing to Gael Monfils 6:4, 6:7(8), 4:6, 5:7 in the second round. 

Source: HTS

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January 21, 2020 - After Petra Martic moved to the second round on Monday and Borna Coric was surprisingly knocked out in the first, three more Croatian representatives took to the courts on Tuesday - Marin Cilic, Donna Vekic and Ivo Karlovic.

Marin Cilic had a convincing performance in the first round of this year's Australian Open, defeating the recent finalist of the ATP tournament in Doha, Frenchman Corentin Moutet (ATP—70) - 6:3, 6:2, 6:4.

Cilic won the first set after a break in the sixth game, and in the second set, he took Moutet’s serve in the first and fifth games. Cilic, however, had a bit more work in the third set, though in the fifth game, a decisive break gave him the victory, in which he recorded nine aces with a first-serve percentage of 62 percent.

His next opponent is the 21st tennis player in the world, Frenchman Benoit Paire. They have played on five occasions so far, and Marin has recorded four wins. 

Cruise mode ?@cilic_marin keeps his #AO2020 hopes alive with a 6-3 6-2 6-4 first round win over Moutet#AusOpen pic.twitter.com/d0DU4CX7kc

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2020

Donna Vekic will also play in the second round of the Australian Open for the fifth time in her career. Namely, the 23-year-old Osijek native and 19th-seed of the tournament was too strong for former best tennis player in the world, Russian Maria Sharapova (WTA-145) - 6:3, 6:4. 

Donna had no problems in the first set and quickly went to 5:1 to resolve any doubts. However, in the second set, Sharapova played much better, and after a break in the fourth game, later led 4:1. 

Donna then kicked into gear and, with five consecutive games, reached her first success against Sharapova. Sharapova previously celebrated at the 2018 Roland Garros tournament. 

On her way to victory, Donna recorded three aces with a first-serve percentage of 52 percent, and used all four break-points on her opponent’s serve. In the second round, Vekic will play the winner of Cornet - Niculescu.

Under the watchful eye of mum and dad, @DonnaVekic gets the W.

"It's really great to have them around and my whole team is the best" ?#AO2020 | #AusOpen pic.twitter.com/GqZ6NbuNfM

— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 21, 2020

Ivo Karlovic (ATP-124th), who will turn 41 next month, also advanced to the second round of the first Australian Open, beating Canadian Vasek Pospisil in the first round 7:6 (4), 6:4, 7:5 after two hours and two minutes of play.

Source: HTS

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January 20, 2020 - Croatian tennis player Petra Martic will move forward in the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, while Borna Coric lost in the first round.

Martic beat American Christina McHale 6-3, 6-0, while Coric lost to American Sam Querrey 3-6, 4-6, 4-6.

Martic, who is the 13th-seed of the tournament, played a great match and advanced to the second round without any problems. It took an hour and 30 minutes of play to win against the 27-year-old American, currently the world's 84th best tennis player.

It was their third match, with the Croatian tennis player now leading 2-1 in victories. Petra celebrated three years ago in the Cincinnati qualifiers, and McHale was better in 2014 in the Montreal qualifiers.

Martic, who reached the fourth round last year as her best result in Melbourne, will play in the second round against German Julia Georges, who beat Slovakian player Victoria Kuzma 6-1, 6-2 at the opening of the tournament.

They have played twice so far, and both times the 31-year-old Georges has celebrated. The last time they met was in the semifinals of the WTA Birmingham tournament in June last year.

Unfortunately, Borna Coric, currently Croatia’s best tennis player, was defeated in the first round. American Sam Querrey celebrated 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

In the first set, Querrey first led 3-2. With three games in a row, he increased his lead to 5-2 and calmly brought the set to an end. In the second set, the 32-year-old American made it 2-0, Borna equalized for 2-2, but then again lost his serve and failed to come back in the remainder of the set. The third set was again ruled by one game at 4-4.

Coric and Querrey have played only once so far, five years ago at Roland Garros, where the Coric was the winner.

Coric made it to the fourth round of the Australian Open last year. However, in the remaining five appearances in Melbourne, he dropped out in the first round.

After the rain subsides, Marin Cilic will play against French player Corentin Moutet, while tomorrow, Ivo Karlovic will play against Canadian Vasek Pospisil and Donna Vekic against Russian Maria Sharapova.

Source: Gol.hr

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