A crucial moment occurred at 2–2 in the second set, when the Croatian saved 15-40 and another break point. After that, the balance of power completely shifted, and at 4–3, Dino reached a break point for the first time in the match. He converted it and with a streak of five games paved the way to victory. On Thursday (not before 6 PM), his opponent will be Italian Luciano Darderi, the second seed and last week’s ATP tournament winner in Bastad.
“At the start of the match, I underestimated my opponent a bit, and the set quickly went his way. Later, I focused and found my game. There was no lack of effort because Basilashvili plays very fast,” said Prižmić, who is currently ranked 143rd, his best career ranking so far. However, by reaching the quarterfinals, he will improve this ranking further and is already up to 125th at the moment.
The defending champion, Argentine Francisco Cerundolo, unexpectedly exited the tournament after his very first match. In one of the longest matches in Umag, Spanish player Carlos Taberner defeated him 6–7 (2), 6–4, 7–5 after three hours and 22 minutes. Cerundolo, ranked 19th in the world, had a break advantage four times in the decisive third set and even served for the match at 5–4, but none of it was enough for the win.
“I played terribly. I came to Umag in better form than last year, but today’s match was bad. You always believe you can win, but today I played terribly,” he repeated. “I love this tournament, everything here is great, and I believe I will return,” he added.
Even after 35 years, the tournament remains with only two players who have won the title more than once – Austrian Thomas Muster and Spaniard Carlos Moya. As for match duration records, Blaž Kavčič and Carlos Berlocq, who played for three hours and 41 minutes in 2011, still hold the record.
For Taberner, ranked 111th on the ATP list, this is his first career win against a top-20 player. This is his second time reaching the quarterfinals, having previously made it to the last eight in Astana in 2021.
Besides Darderi, another seeded player who advanced was Damir Džumhur (4th seed) from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who stopped Swiss Stan Wawrinka in an excellent match played in front of a full stadium with a great atmosphere. The 2006 tournament winner started better and led 3–1 but won only one of the next eight games. It seemed Džumhur was comfortably heading toward victory, but Wawrinka came back from two breaks down to tie the score 4–4. Then, at 5–4, Džumhur missed a match point on serve, but took advantage of a new opportunity at 6–5 to win 6–4, 7–5 in his debut appearance in Umag.
“At the start of the match, I underestimated my opponent a bit, and the set quickly went his way. Later, I focused and found my game. There was no lack of effort because Basilashvili plays very fast,” said Prižmić, who is currently ranked 143rd, his best career ranking so far. However, by reaching the quarterfinals, he will improve this ranking further and is already up to 125th at the moment.
The defending champion, Argentine Francisco Cerundolo, unexpectedly exited the tournament after his very first match. In one of the longest matches in Umag, Spanish player Carlos Taberner defeated him 6–7 (2), 6–4, 7–5 after three hours and 22 minutes. Cerundolo, ranked 19th in the world, had a break advantage four times in the decisive third set and even served for the match at 5–4, but none of it was enough for the win.
“I played terribly. I came to Umag in better form than last year, but today’s match was bad. You always believe you can win, but today I played terribly,” he repeated. “I love this tournament, everything here is great, and I believe I will return,” he added.
Even after 35 years, the tournament remains with only two players who have won the title more than once – Austrian Thomas Muster and Spaniard Carlos Moya. As for match duration records, Blaž Kavčič and Carlos Berlocq, who played for three hours and 41 minutes in 2011, still hold the record.
For Taberner, ranked 111th on the ATP list, this is his first career win against a top-20 player. This is his second time reaching the quarterfinals, having previously made it to the last eight in Astana in 2021.
Besides Darderi, another seeded player who advanced was Damir Džumhur (4th seed) from Bosnia and Herzegovina, who stopped Swiss Stan Wawrinka in an excellent match played in front of a full stadium with a great atmosphere. The 2006 tournament winner started better and led 3–1 but won only one of the next eight games. It seemed Džumhur was comfortably heading toward victory, but Wawrinka came back from two breaks down to tie the score 4–4. Then, at 5–4, Džumhur missed a match point on serve, but took advantage of a new opportunity at 6–5 to win 6–4, 7–5 in his debut appearance in Umag.
