Ever since 1990, when it was first held, the ATP Vegeta Croatia Open has become one of Croatia's most important sporting and social events. Each July Umag welcomes tens of thousands of tourists, including several thousands of Slovenian guests - they all come for top-quality tennis, food and entertainment.
Even though it will once again take place in-between "the two Wimbledons" and in the same week as three other ATP tournaments, the 23rd edition of the ATP Vegeta Croatia Open 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.

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. 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, and Blaž Kavčič, Slovenia's best tennis player who played in last year's edition of the tournament against Berlocq, with the Slovenian fans creating a fantastic ambiance people are still talking about today.

The 23rd ATP Vegeta Croatia Open is more than just a tennis tournament; it is also an exciting entertainment and tourist event. A very rich program intended for all generations awaits visitors of the 23rd ATP Vegeta Croatia Open. The Istria Gourmet Festival will once again gather the best Istrian and visiting restaurants. The enological and gastronomical part of the program, dubbed the Istria Gourmet Festival, will showcase the tastes and smells of Istria through five different themed events over 10 days' time. The daily menus will be prepared by the top three local restaurants, while the Istria Gourmet program will showcase Istria's best restaurants as well as restaurants relying on Istria for inspiration, such as one of Slovenia's first-class restaurant. The guests will be able to participate in tastings of Istrian wines and olive oils, and enjoy special events, such as a lecture by Croatia's most renowned scientist Miroslav Radman.

Tournament's unique musical offer is richer than ever featuring more than 100 hours of program over the 11-day event. Umag's and the tournament's guests are in for a real treat: exciting performances by seven international stars, five spectacular concerts (including an international star's first even Croatian gig) and six international DJ stars. The main event of the ATP Party Nights program is certainly the gala concert by Oliver Dragojević and his guest Gibonni, which will be held on June 7 and will begin at 21.30 at the central ATP stadium.  The eleven-day music event in the ATP Dance Arena includes performances by Istria's favorite musicians, Gustafi and ATP Stars Bend, TBF from Split and JINX from Zagreb, as well as international stars Fredd Hush and Brooke Johnston Herr. This year, for electronic music fans, organizers have arranged performances by the best musicians: Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, Freemasons, Patrick La Funk and Eddie Thoneick. Along with DJs, a popular clubbing program RNB Confusion, which will meet the expectations of R&B music fans, will also be included in the ATP Party Nights. The semi-finals' day will be marked by a surprise concert by an award-winning international star.
In the world of tennis Umag is also very well known for its hostesses, who come to the tournament from across the region. Just as in the previous years, the girls showed great interest, sending in over 700 applications, mostly from Croatia but also from the neighboring Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.  After four castings the total of 150 hostesses were selected; those of them who want to will participate in the traditional Miss Hostess contest.
The Umag-based tournament has also been recognized as one of the most attractive tournaments on the ATP circuit, as confirmed by a number of awards, including last year's excellence award Best Fan Experience for its unique entertainment program. It is the fifth such award that the ATP has presented to the Umag-based tournament.
Last year's tournament was visited by around 80,000 people. It also boasts considerable media coverage. Thus, for instance, fifteen international broadcasters aired images from Umag to a potential viewership of over 90 million in as many as 132 countries on four different continents. This year 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. Finally, the tournament 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.

The venue's unique location right next to the sea, top-quality organization and exceedingly rich gastronomic and music offer are all guarantees of the best possible experience to all the guests of this year's ATP Vegeta Croatia Open in Umag.