Umag is proud of the fact that it was the first step on Marin’s tennis journey and, understandably, the Sunday’s Wimbledon final in London was followed closely at the Stella Maris complex. For a while on this Sunday afternoon, something happened that hardly ever happens: the walkways and the promenade surrounding the Goran Ivanišević ATP Stadium were – empty. Why?
Well, all those who love tennis and who had come to Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag for tennis were determined not to miss the final match at the All England Club by watching it at the Social Arena of the tournament in Umag.
With the live coverage of the match on the big screen and ample refreshments, a large number of fans gathered to send positive vibes from Umag to our tennis ace to help him with his match against the mighty Roger Federer. Just as Wimbledon boasts Murray Mountain (former Henman Hill, named after UK’s previous tennis hero), a popular gathering place for the British tennis fans, in no time this Sunday Umag got its Čilić Beach.
There are few places where one can lounge about in deckchairs right next to the sea and watch the final of the world’s greatest tennis tournament with the sound of the waves in the background and views of the endless blue sea. There you have it. Yet another reason why Umag is special and different than any other tournament out there…
And right at the very beginning, Čilić gave his fans a reason to applaud and smile as he had a break point as soon as the match kicked off on Centre Court. The rest of the match did not go as expected. Federer and troubles with his injury proved to be too big an obstacle for Marin to overcome this time.
Still, Umag continued to root for our ace until the very end, hoping for a miracle. It just wasn't meant to be this time but even reaching a Wimbledon final is definitely a fantastic result for a tennis player who, back in 2005 in Umag, was gathering his first experiences on the ATP Tour.
And that’s not the only thing that connects Čilić and Umag: on Saturday, July 15, it was exactly five years since our Marin had won the ATP tournament in Umag as the last Croatian to do that.
