The competition portion of the 33rd Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag kicks off this Thursday, 20 July, at 5 p.m. on court no. 1, with the Masters of the third Road to Umag by Podravka tournament series. The pre-qualifying rounds were organised by TC Split 1950, TC Karlovac and TC Samobor 1890, and they gave us four participants of the Masters tournament (Luka Mikrut, Jerko Brkić, Domagoj Bilješko and Luka Curavić). The most successful of them following semi-final matches on Thursday and the final match on Friday gets an invitation to the ATP tournament qualifiers. In the absence of Matija Pecotić, winner of the previous two Road to Umag tournaments, it is clear that the victory and invitation to the qualifiers will go to a fresh face.
Alongside the Road to Umag by Podravka, the spectators will be drawn to the fourth ITF Wheelchair Croatia Open Umag by HEP, where we will see wheelchair players compete for international ITF points. The strong Croatian forces are led by Anto Joskić, the organiser and originator of this tournament, which brings an ever-growing number of wheelchair players to Umag year after year.
This year’s tournament has something new – the international Edel Sport Umag padel tournament, to be held at the Padel Centre Arena in Umag, with the final match taking place in the ATP zone. An attractive Infinity court will be installed at the hard court at Stella Maris, where Croatia’s finest padel players will showcase their talent and demonstrate all the features of this dynamic sport. Not just for the tournament, this court will also be open to everyone who wants to try it out throughout the 11 days of the tournament, and some of the stars of the ATP tournament are sure to demonstrate their padel skills.
Just like in previous years, Umag will once again become the centre of recreational tennis. For the fourth time, the Umag Stars Open will invite celebrities from show business, politics, economy and sports.
The first Saturday is when the traditional HEPI tournament will take place. It is organised by HEP Opskrba, one of the most loyal partners of the tournament, who will invite its buyers and HEP Energija buyers from Slovenia to the Umag Tennis Academy courts in Katoro, where they will enjoy some friendly tennis competition, and lots of good company. On the final weekend of the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag tournament, the same court will be the setting of the VIP tournament by Podravka, which will once again be the place to be for many celebrities from Croatia and abroad.
With the traditional press tournament, where Ilvio Vidovich (Ubitennis), unbeatable in the last few years, will be defending his title, and the extremely popular Kid’s Week by Podravka, where young players will get the chance to meet their tennis heroes from Monday, 24 July to Friday, 28 July, the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag is once again proving itself as the place to be if you love sports and tennis, offering numerous activities for young and old.
So make sure to visit Umag from 20 – 30 July, and follow our social media and the official web-site, www.croatiaopen.hr, for all the news.
