The opening of the jubilee edition of the tournament has been
glorified by the exhibition match of four former champions, who
reminded the packed Stella Maris stadium crowd what it used to look
like when they ruled the tournaments.
At the very beginning of the match, president of the tournament
Organizational committee Željko Kukurin handed a
special recognition and a winner's trophy to Zvonimir
Mršić, CEO of Podravka and the main partner and sponsor of
the tournament.
Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanišević then joined forces
with a former Roland Garros doubles finalist Mansour Bahrami. On
the other side of the net were Thomas Muster, who won Umag's
tournament three times and Henri Leconte, former Roland Garros
singles finalist.
The match was filled with attractive, fun and sometimes comical
moves, the likes of which only veteran masters are capable of, but
there wasn't a lack of competition either, even though the players
stated that the result isn't their first priority prior to the
match. Bahrami showed why they call him the greatest entertainer in
the world of tennis, but the other players didn't fall behind
either. Ivanišević played a portion of the match with an apron and
a basket of Podravka products in his hand, while Muster and Bahrami
indulged in a few snacks between points. Displeased with the score,
Ivanišević threw his racket at the main umpire, but luckily, he
missed. For over an hour the four legends drew sighs, applause and
laughter of Umag's crowd, and the finally result of the match (6:5
for Ivanišević and Bahrami) was overshadowed by the great show that
they performed for over 4000 tennis fans.
The opening ceremony of 25. Vegeta Croatia Open was continued by
the concert of one of the most popular Croatian rock bands,
Hladno pivo, in front of a numerous Umag
crowd.
The opening of the jubilee edition of the tournament has been glorified by the exhibition match of four former champions, who reminded the packed Stella Maris stadium crowd...
