Still Croatian success in Umag! ‹ TennisPhotoWorld.com

Posted by TennisPhotoWorld on 30 Jul 2023

Still Croatian success in Umag. Although eliminated in the qualifications, Nino Serdarusic held the championship trophy! Together with the Slovenian Blaz Rola he had received a wildcard from tournament director Tomislav Poljak for participation in the doubles tournament. And the two took full advantage of that opportunity. They won the final against the Italian duo Simone Bolleli and Andrea Vavassori.

The first set went 6-4 to the Italians, but Serdarusic and Rola kept up well in the second, so it came down to a tie-break. They managed to win that, making the score 1-1. In doubles, a super tiebreak is then played (to 10 instead of 7 points, but with a minimum difference of 2 points). In the super tiebreak Rola and Serdarusic continued their good game and took an 8-4 lead. But Bolelli seemed to be planning to repeat his feat of a year earlier, then with Fabio Fognini at his side. In that double final, the Italian duo miraculously managed to win from an almost lost position. You can read the report of that thriller match again by clicking here.

The Italians managed to bring the tension to a great height again by completely catching up with the 8-4 deficit and forcing a match point at 9-8. They did that again on 11-10 and, but now on their own service, on 12-11. The Croatian and the Slovenian, however, did not want to give way and also reached match point on their own service at a score of 13-12. However, that match point was also lost, but at a 14-13 score they knew, despite the Italians service, to use the match point. The joy of the two and their family and team was immense. A beautiful victory of a with heart and soul fighting duo!