Once again the ATP Vegeta Croatia Open will take place in-between "the two Wimbledons", and in the same week as three other ATP tournaments. Nonetheless, the 23rd edition of the Umag-based event has attracted a large number of top-class international players. Thus, for instance, in the period between July 5 and 15 tennis fans will be able to watch Croatia's top three tennis players and the 2011 title defender, as well as two former tournament winners and another three top 20 players.
Player profiles and acceptance list...
At the recent press conference in Zagreb tournament director
Vanja Božičković announced the list of players who will participate
in this year's tournament, while Croatia's minister of science,
education and sports Željko Jovanović, tourism minister Veljko
Ostojić, Umag mayor Vili Bassanese and Jorn Pedersen, member of the
managing board of Podravka, tournament's chief sponsor, highlighted
the importance of the event for Umag, Istria and
Croatia.
At the 23rd edition of the ATP Vegeta Croatia Open Croatia will be
represented by the best of its tennis players as arrivals have
already been confirmed by last year's finalist Marin
Čilić as well as Ivo Karlović and
Ivan Dodig. The title will be defended by the
current tournament champion, Ukraine's Alexandr
Dolgopolov. Currently the 19th ranked player in the world,
Dolgopolov won his first career title in Umag. Among those who will
return to Umag this year is the 2008 winner, currently the 16th
ranked tennis player in the world, Fernando
Verdasco of Spain, and his compatriot, winner of the 2010
tournament and Umag crowd's favorite, Juan Carlos
Ferrero, for whom this will be the sixth appearance at the
Umag-based event.
"The return of a great many tennis players, who have over the
past years achieved some of their best results in Umag of all
places, confirms the excellent reputation of our tournament. Add to
that the fact that we will also welcome the country's best tennis
players and I am confident that both domestic and international
tennis fans will have many a reason to come to Umag this year. I am
also very pleased to see that the considerable efforts we put into
the organization and promotion of the ATP Vegeta Croatia Open every
year bring such good results," said tournament director
Vanja Božičković.
Good news travels fast and so France's Richard
Gasquet, currently the 20th ranked player in the world,
has asked for a wild card to enter Umag's tournament this year.
Spain's Marcel Granollers, ranked 23rd in the world, is also
coming, along with the former finalist, Italy's Potito Starace, his
fellow compatriot Fabio Fognini, Argentina's Carlos Berlocq and a
number of players from the emissive tourist destinations in
Slovenia, Germany, etc.
Over the past two decades the Umag-based tournament has gained the
status of undoubtedly one of the most important sporting events in
Croatia, minister of science, education and sports Željko Jovanović
stated. "Encouraging excellence in all the areas, sports
included, is the most important goal of the activities carried out
by the ministry that I am at the helm of. The tournament in Umag
has set an excellent example for other sports as well, and I am
especially pleased that the home crowd will be able to cheer for
our top tennis players. I believe we can all learn from the
experiences of the tournament's organizers and apply that to other
sporting events," minister Jovanović
said.
The 23rd ATP Vegeta Croatia Open is not just a tennis tournament
but comprehensive, structured sports and tourist product, minister
of tourism Veljko Ostojić explained. "With continuous
innovations this tournament contributes to the building of Umag's
reputation as a destination with top sports, quality food and
first-class tourism. The synergy between sports and tourism that
has been achieved here in Umag definitely strengthens Istria's
standing as a tourist destination, but also Croatia's tourism offer
in general. I believe the organizers will continue their efforts in
the same direction and the ministry will strongly support
them," minister Ostojić stressed.
Umag Mayor Vili Bassanese stressed the fact that
Umag was a town of sports, adding that the town authorities would
continue to provide maximum support to the organization of various
sports events contributing to the development of tourism and
prolonging the tourist season - in his opinion, ATP Vegeta Croatia
Open played the leading role in the said process. "The town of Umag
is also the driving force behind the development of one of the
biggest sports arenas in the country. It will most certainly create
the conditions for sports tourism 365 days a year," Bassanese
announced.
This year the Umag tournament was named after Vegeta, the most
famous original Croatian product. "Podravka recognized how special
the Umag ATP tournament was from the very beginning 23 years ago.
The tournament has been named after one of Podravka's products for
the seventh year in a row: so far it had been named after Studena,
and now after Vegeta, and not by coincidence, since Vegeta is a
brand of global renown and one of Podravka's products that
consumers in almost 50 countries are enjoying. The global renown of
Vegeta, Croatia's most famous export product with more than half a
century of tradition, is the reason why we decided to name the
famous tennis tournament after the famous brand. We only tie our
brands to the best, and Umag ATP is the best: a synonym for top
sports, tourism and premium gastronomic offering, and a shining
example of sports and tourism in the true meaning of the word,"
Podravka's board member Jorn Pedersen said.
The 23rd ATP Vegeta Croatia Open is of tremendous importance for
the international promotion of Umag, Istria and Croatia. As many as
15 TV stations from 133 countries on 5 different continents that
have been confirmed so far are going to provide live and
tape-delayed coverage of the matches to a potential audience of 70
million households, plus another 700 million that are going to
watch news reports from Umag on world's leading stations including
BBC World News, Eurosport, Al Jazeera, France 24 and Russia Today.
The tournament is also moving into the enormous Chinese market at
the beginning of this year and is going to be covered by the ATP
media via ATP World Uncovered, which has 412 million potential
viewers on the website ATPWorldTour.com (10 million hits a month),
newsletter and Facebook page with over 900,000 fans.
In the period between July 5 and 15 the visitors of the 23rd ATP
Vegeta Croatia Open can expect a top-quality program for all
generations. The Istria Gourmet Festival is once again going to
assemble Istria's best restaurants, winemakers and olive farmers,
and the unique music program features more than 100 hours of
program over the 11-day event.
potential audience of 70 million households, plus another 700 million that are going to watch news reports from Umag on world's leading stations including BBC World News, Eurosport, Al Jazeera, France 24 and Russia Today. The tournament is also moving into the enormous Chinese market at the beginning of this year and is going to be covered by the ATP media via ATP World Uncovered, which has 412 million potential viewers on the website ATPWorldTour.com (10 million hits a month), newsletter and Facebook page with over 900,000 fans.
