July 11th, 2021 - For the first time in Wimbledon's famed history, the men’s singles final match between Novak Đoković and Matteo Berrettini will have a female umpire: it will be the Croatian umpire, Marija Čičak.

After the great success of the Croatian doubles, Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić, who have secured their first Wimbledon title yesterday, some Croatian flavour will be present today on the Wimbledon Centre Court. Marija Čičak is one of the world's top tennis umpires, and her amazing career will reach one of its greatest moments today. She has already been in the position of running the Wimbledon finals: in 2014, she was the chair umpire as Serena Williams beat Garbine Mugguruza, and in 2017 she umpired the female doubles finals.

But, a female umpire on the last day, the men's singles final match? That has not happened at the All England Club!

US Open, another Grand Slam tournament saw two female umpires officiating both female and male finals in 2015 - and, yes, Marija Čičak was one of them, in charge of the female finals, while Eva Asderaki-Moore sat in the chair for the men's finals. But, things change even at the bastions of tradition, and Wimbledon is absolutely one of those.

Marija Čičak, 43, was born and raised in Zagreb, where she played tennis until the age of 18. During her university years, the Croatian umpire tells in an interview with WTA tennis last year, she started officiating as a hobby, never expecting to become a professional. And after being a pro umpire, she can say that she's achieved it all!

Novak Đoković of Serbia will be playing for his 20th Grand Slam title today, his 6th in the All England Club against the 7th seed, Italian Matteo Berrettini. Berrettini also made history for his nation, being the first Italian singles player in the Wimbledon finals.

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July 11, 2021 - Croatian tennis players Nikola Metkić and Mate Pavić are the Wimbledon champions! Bravo!

The best tennis pair in the world, Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić are the winners of this year's Wimbledon. They defeated Spaniard Marcel Granollers and Argentine Horace Zeballos in the final 6-4, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-5 after two hours and 43 minutes of play.

For Pavić, this is the third Grand Slam won in the men's doubles competition. In 2018, he won the Australian Open with Oliver Marach, and last year the US Open with Bruno Soares, while Mektić won his first in this competition. For Mektić and Pavić, this was already the 10th final of this season and the eighth title, but convincingly the biggest.

To win the first set, one "break" was enough for Mektic and Pavic, which they achieved in the seventh game when they combined several excellent backhands on Granollers' serve and took a 4-3 lead. The Croatian duo had two chances to take the serve away from Zeballos in the ninth game, but the Argentine got away with excellent serves. However, Pavić calmly brought the first part of the game to an end with a good service game at 5-4.

In the second set, no pair got a chance to take the service away from the opponent, so the winner was decided by a tie-break. And in it, an unusual situation occurred when Zeballos covered the volley on the net only for the main judge Aurelie Tourte to award a point to the Croatian pair because the Argentine was playing with a racket over the net. In addition, Granollers made a double service error on the set point of the Croatian pair, so Mektić and Pavić arrived on the set after winning Wimbledon.

Unfortunately, the beginning of the third set was the worst period of the game for the Croatian combination. First, after two bad reactions on the net, Granollers and Zeballos reached an irreparable advantage. They were also the only two games in which Granollers and Zeballos had break points and both won.

Mektic and Pavic twice threatened to take the serve away from Zeballos in the fourth set, the first time with a 3-2 lead when they were 15-40, but the Argentine first served well and then played an incredible volley. With the 5-4 advantage of the Croatian pair, Mektić and Pavić reached the match point, but the service winner followed again. However, with 6-5 for Mektić and Pavić, our pair started the game with two returns, reached 0-30, and Zeballos offered the second match ball with a missed volley. Another great return followed, but the Spaniard and the Argentine refused to surrender, but one of those defensive shots finally ended up in the net, so the celebration of 32-year-old Mektic and 28-year-old Pavic could begin.

For the Granollers, this was their fourth appearance in the men's doubles final at the "grand slam" and their fourth defeat, while Zeballos lost both of its previous finals.

FINAL RESULT:

NIKOLA MEKTIC / MATE PAVIC (CRO / 1) - Marcel Granollers / Horacio Zeballos (Spa / Arg / 4) 6-4, 7-6 (5), 2-6, 7-5

Source: Sportske Novosti

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July 7, 2021 - Croatian duo Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić are in the Wimbledon doubles semifinals! 

The best doubles team in the world, Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić advanced to the semifinals of Wimbledon after a big turnaround and a 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-4 victory against the winner of this 2017 tournament, Polish player Lukasz Kubot and Brazilian Marcelo Melo, after three hours and 40 minutes of play.

Mektić and Pavić, who have already won seven tournaments from nine appearances in the finals this year, remained in the game to win their first joint Grand Slam title. Recall, the Croatian team was stopped in the semifinals in Australia and didn't play at Roland Garros due to positive COVID-19 tests. And after the first hour and a half of this duel, it looked like their trip to Wimbledon would end in the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, both of them struggled when serving and often made double faults. Pavić lost the serve in the sixth game of the first and Mektić in the third game of the second set. 

It was enough for Kubot and Melo to take a 2-0 lead in the sets as they were not faced with a single break point in the first two sets.

However, in the third set, the situation began to change. Pavić saved the break point at 3-3, and Mektić two at 4-4, after which they had a break to secure the third set. Mektić brilliantly hit the return on Kubot's serve on the set point. It was a sign that Mektić and Pavić became a better duo on the court.

There were no breaks in the fourth set, although Mektić and Pavić had as many as five chances with the 4-3 lead on Kubot's serve, three of which were played. However, in the tie-break, Mektić and Pavić made it 5-0 and calmly brought the match to an end.

Mektić and Pavić were 4-4 at the beginning of the 5th set and Mektić brought the duel to an end with his serve.

In the semifinals, Mektić and Pavić will play against the winner Juan Sebastian Cabal / Robert Farah and Rajeev Ram / Joe Salisbury.

Source: HRT

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June 25, 2021 - Croatian tennis players have found out their Wimbledon opponents! The tournament will be held from June 28 to July 11, 2021. 

The only Croatian representative in the men's competition at this year's Wimbledon, Marin Čilić, will face Salvatore Caruso in the 1st round, while both Croatian representatives in the women's competition will compete against 20-year-old Russians - Donna Vekić v. Anastasia Potapova and Petra Martić v. Varvara Gracheva, was determined by a draw on Friday, reports Gol.hr.

Čilić, the 2017 Wimbledon finalist, was appointed the 32nd-seed of the tournament after Austrian Dominic Thiem pulled out on Thursday, so he was faced with slightly easier rivals at the beginning of the tournament.

In the 1st round, he will play against the current 97th player in the world, Caruso, who lost in the first round in his only appearance so far at Wimbledon two years ago. If he wins against Caruso, Čilić will play in the 2nd round against the better of the two qualifiers, Argentine Marco Trungelliti and Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi, but in the 3rd round, he could face the second-best player in the world, Russian Danilo Medvedev.

Donna Vekić also received a not-too-demanding rival in the first round, 20-year-old Russian Potapova, the 82nd player in the world, who has played twice at Wimbledon so far and achieved only one victory.

However, in the 2nd round, the 25-year-old from Osijek will have a much more demanding task because she could play against the eighth seed, Czech player Karolina Pliškova or the Slovenian Tamara Zidanšek, who recently reached the semifinals of Roland Garros.

Petra Martić, who is set to be the 26th seed, will play against Gracheva, who currently holds 82nd place in the WTA rankings. This will also be her Wimbledon debut. If she wins against Gracheva, Martić will play in the 2nd round against the Romanian Irina Begu or the qualifier.

Vekić and Martić could be joined in the first round by Ana Konjuh if she defeats the Bulgarian Cvetana Pironkova in the last round of qualifications.

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