Goran Prpić is no longer the only Croatian tennis player to win
the title at Umag's ATP tournament: the winner's list of Vegeta
Croatia Open now has Marin Čilić.
In the finals of the 23rd edition he defeated Marcel Granollers
6:4, 6:2 and got his eight career title, first one on clay, after
having a finals score of 0-3 on this surface.
"This was a special week for me, I played excellent tennis.
Last year I was left with a bitter taste after the finals, but I
made it this time. I love playing at home and this is a special
victory for me", said Čilić, who managed to take that one
extra step he couldn't do last year, when he was bested in the
deciding match by Alexandr Dolgopolov from Ukraine.
On his way to the title, Čilić managed not to lose a single set in
all four matches, even though Granollers started the final match
very well, leading with 4-2. However, a true rhapsody from our
tennis player ensued, and he not only recovered the "break" but he
made an astonishing series of nine games, leading 6:3, 5:0. That's
where the winner was decided even though Granollers managed to
complicate the situation: he kept his serve for 1:5, and saved two
match balls when Čilić was serving for the win, but Marin's new
"break" concluded the match for the final score of 6:2.
"We have waited for a long time, but that's what makes it even
sweeter", said tournament director Vanja Božičković, while
reverting to the fact that Goran Prpić was the only Croatian player
to win in Umag. He won in 1990 by defeating Goran Ivanišević in the
finals.
With this victory Čilić improved his win-loss score of the last
month and a half: after losing in Roland Garros he played 13
matches and won 12. At London's Queen's he won his first title on
grass, played in the fourth round of Wimbledon, and now he added
four more wins from Umag. "Granollers doesn't have great strikes
but he's very smart. When I found the answers to his game
everything improved", said Čilić. This was their sixth match
together and the fifth win my Čilić, he's also leading with 2-0 on
clay. Granollers has a cause for happiness as well: one day after
the tournament he will enter the Top 20 of the ATP list for the
first time in his career, because it's expected for him to jump
from 24. to 19. place.
Goran Prpić is no longer the only Croatian tennis player to win the title at Umag's ATP tournament: the winner's list of Vegeta Croatia Open now has Marin Čilić. In the finals of the 23rd edition he defeated Marcel Granollers 6:4, 6:2 and got his eight career title, first one on clay...
