The 23rd edition of the Umag-based ATP Vegeta Croatia Open attracted more than 80,000 visitors, while the final match at the Stella Maris tennis center drew 15.000 people alone. The tournament took place in the period between July 5 and 15 of this year, under the auspices of the Croatian head of state. After 22 long years it was once again won by a local boy, Croatia's best tennis player Marin Čilić.

The event's top quality was evident in the fact that the first four seeds played in the semifinal matches: Marin Čilić played against Alexandr Dolgopolov, and Fernando Verdasco against Marcel Granollers.
The eleven-day tournament boasted top-quality tennis, exciting music program and rich gastronomic offer, daily. This year's draw featured four TOP 25 ATP players and three former tournament winners - Fernando Verdasco (2008), Juan Carlos Ferrero (2010) and Alexandr Dolgopolov (2011).

Furthermore, Umag's ATP Party Nights had prepared a 100-hour music program, featuring both Croatian and international music stars, from Oliver and Gibonni to Grammy Award-winning singer Estelle. At the same time, Istria Gourmet Festival showcased wine tastings titled Hidden Charms of Malvasia and Teran, along with the traditional events Our Cuisine, Istria Gourmet Restaurant and Vinistra.

Croatia's TV viewers saw 13 live matches from Umag as well as the total of 30 hours of various tournament-related broadcasts, including post-match interviews with the players. Moreover, seven national and local TV stations aired as many as 110 TV reports and news from the tournament.
As regards international TV exchange, as many as 548 reports (total length: 8 hours) were aired. Images from Umag were broadcasted by 49 international TV stations, including Eurosport 2, BBC World News, Al Jazeera International, France 24, Russia Today, Beijing TV and Shanghai TV, with potential viewership of over a billion people around the world. Furthermore, Umag matches were aired in 139 countries on five different continents, via 19 international TV stations with potential viewers in 140.2 million households. Finally, the event's intense campaign had generated considerable media attention and publicity in the emissive tourist market of Slovenia.

"The Umag-based tournament, a combination of three different events, has confirmed its unique position on the ATP calendar. Thus, for instance, this year the governing body of tennis, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), presented us with an award in the Best Fun Experience category. Furthermore, for the first time ever the matches were broadcasted in the United States, while an enormous step forward was made in the huge media markets of Russia, China, UK and Ireland as well as Eastern Europe. All that has not only confirmed the considerable efforts and work invested in the event's organization but also set a high bar for the next, 24th edition of the tournament," Director of the ATP Vegeta Croatia Open Vanja Božičković stated.

This year's tournament was covered by the record-breaking number of journalists, photographers and cameramen - as many as 330 of them, from 131 different media and 14 different countries in Europe and the world. Online promotion has also posted some fantastic results; the number of visitors of the event's official website went up to 170,000, while the videos posted on the tournament's YouTube channel clocked up around 75,000 views, more than twice the views recorded in 2011. Even the official channels of the ATP witnessed a considerable interest in the 23rd Vegeta Croatia Open.  Thus, in the week of the tournament the ATP's website saw nearly 3.5 million hits, while the post featuring Umag on the association's Facebook page was seen the total of 2.5 million times. Moreover, the Umag-related video materials on the ATP's website were viewed 10,200 times, while 256 hours of video materials were consumed in total.

Furthermore, for the first time this year the organizers of the ATP Vegeta Croatia Open partnered up with the Croatian Press Photographers' Association to reward the best photos taken throughout the tournament, in various sports venues and at different entertaining events. The participants competed in two categories, titled Tennis and Tournament's Accompanying Events; eventually the jury chose three of the best photos in each category, depicting in the best possible way this top sports event and the great fun everyone had had at this year's tournament.

Over 60 photos were submitted and the jury featured Arlen Brozić, Director of the tournament's Executive Committee, Mauro Teković, tournament's Marketing & Party, Nikola Šolić, Member of the Executive Committee of the Croatian Press Photographers' Association and longtime Reuters' photographer, and Robert Valai, photo editor at Sportske novosti. The top-ranked photo in the Tennis category was one by Neven Gerenčir (Gerephoto); photos by Goran Jakuš and Jurica Galoić, both of Pixsell, came second and third respectively. As regards the category titled Tournament's Accompanying Events, the best photo had been taken by Gordana Anders (Danafoto); Mišo Lišanin (Blenda d.o.o.) was ranked second and Neven Gerenčir (Gerephoto) third.

The 24th edition of the ATP Vegeta Croatia Open will reclaim its traditional slot in July - it will take place on July 18-28, 2013.

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