Croatia Open 2018, Umag, Croatia, ATP 250

[britbox]

DATE: July 16 - 22 2018
SURFACE: Clay
PRIZE MONEY: €501,345
FIELD SIZE: 28
DEFENDING CHAMPION: Andrey Rublev

Seeds:

1 EDMUND, Kyle (withdrawn)
2 DZUMHUR, Damir
3 CECCHINATO, Marco
4 RUBLEV, Andrey
5 RAMOS-VINOLAS, Albert
6 HAASE, Robin
7 SOUSA, Joao
8 PAIRE, Benoit

The Tournament:

The Croatia Open began life as the Yugoslavia Open back in 1990. The tournament and side-events attract more than 100.000 guests, which at that time makes Umag inevitable summer center of tennis, beauty, entertainment, social gathering and experience of tastes and scents of Istria.

About Umag

Umag is a coastal city in Istria, Croatia and the municipality includes Savudrija/Salvore, the westernmost point of Croatia.

The geographical location of Umag, in particular, has ensured an intensive and dynamic growth of the tourist industry after World War II, which has been expanding rapidly ever since. The closeness of big west European markets and the rise in standard of East European countries have both accounted for the expansion of this economic branch which is tightly linked to other economic resources in the region the most significant being agriculture.

The best fertile soil and the vast arable land in the area have fostered the production of traditional Mediterranean crops present in the region for thousands of years, with particular emphasis on olive growing and wine growing (Wiki)

Zeitblick / Wikimedia

Silverije / Wikimedia

Marianocecowski / Wikimedia

Tourism Guide:

 

[britbox]

The Draw

 

[isabelle]

Paire already lost

 

[mrzz]

Lajovic overcomes Ramos-Vinolas with a bagel on the last set.

 

[isabelle]

Lajovic overcomes Ramos-Vinolas with a bagel on the last set.

wow, RV played so poorly ??? did you see the match ?

 

[mrzz]

wow, RV played so poorly ??? did you see the match ?

No, I didn't. I prefer to think that DL played so good.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

What an amazing TB from FAA to even the match against Rublev. This kid is going places.
Why is there a clay tournament after Wimby though????

 

[herios]

What an amazing TB from FAA to even the match against Rublev. This kid is going places.
Why is there a clay tournament after Wimby though????

My friend, you were around for sometime, I thought you knew there was a clay court mid summer season, like forever.
It is not just a tournament, there are many of them spread through July -August all over Europe.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

What an amazing TB from FAA to even the match against Rublev. This kid is going places.
Why is there a clay tournament after Wimby though????

There are clay tourney before leading up to RG, there are clay tourneys leading up to IW &M and there are clay tourneys leading up to USO. and finally there are also clay tourneys after USO. If you know how to play dirty, you can cash in throughout the year.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

My friend, you were around for sometime, I thought you knew there was a clay court mid summer season, like forever.
It is not just a tournament, there are many if them spread through July -August all over Europe.

Totally block them out To me, nothing happens between Wimbledon and Canada. That is my tennis holiday.

 

[herios]

Totally block them out To me, nothing happens between Wimbledon and Canada. That is my tennis holiday.

I am sure you are not alone
But be fair, if Roger would play them, like he did a few years ago, you would follow them as well.
I remember when they awarded him a cow in Gstaad for showing up

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

I am sure you are not alone
But be fair, if Roger would play them, like he did a few years ago, you would follow them as well.
I remember when they awarded him a cow in Gstaad for showing up

Holy cow, I remember that . I guess you are right, Roger's participation changes things.
These days , after Wimbledon, I am physically and mentally drained, as if I myself played.
Trying to follow FAA as much as I can though...which brought me to Umag. He played OK for the most part, got the break in the final set but serving at 3-2, just faded away. I do have high hopes for him though. The kid is impressive.

 

[herios]

FAA played all the way through the grass season on the European clay Challenger circuit. He recorded mixed results though, bit is good for him, becsube what he needs at this stage to get stronger .
Nothing happens overnight, it is a process which takes time.

 

[mrzz]

Rublev RULES! Who cares about these soft touch kids... (just kidding, FAA has great talent, and I mean real talent).

And, seriously, in two or three years Rublev's forehand will be probably the biggest weapon on tour.

 

[herios]

Rublev RULES! Who cares about these soft touch kids... (just kidding, FAA has great talent, and I mean real talent).

And, seriously, in two or three years Rublev's forehand will be probably the biggest weapon on tour.

Ok, calm down for now, because the guy was absent 3 months or so for injury. That is not the best sign, when you talk about a 20 year old.
To have a good future, he will need to stay healthy.

 

[mrzz]

Ok, calm down for now, because the guy was absent 3 months or so for injury. That is not the best sign, when you talk about a 20 year old.
To have a good future, he will need to stay healthy.

There is nothing more irritating, infuriating, annoying and exasperating than a sober and cool headed post when you're enthusiastic about something.

But I will simply ignore it. He probably got injured hammering the heads of little birds with his bare fists just to see how far the blood would spill. That is what those big bad Russians do, you know?

 

[herios]

Please don't shoot the messenger.
I was stating the facts only.
Today was Rublev's first match since Monte Carlo.
Something must have happened that he skipped almost the entire clay/grass season

 

[isabelle]

great for Rublev

 

[herios]

Pella into the final, after defeating Haase in 3 sets.

 

[herios]

Cecchinato makes his second final of his career. He ddfeated LL Trungelitti.