January 17, 2020 – Croatian tennis player Ivan Dodig and his Slovakian doubles partner Filip Polasek will compete for the title at the ATP tournament in Adelaide.
In the semifinal match, Dodig and Polasek defeated British team Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski after a big fight with a score of 5:7, 6:3, 15:13. The Croatian/Slovakian duo saved three match points and thus opened the season in a significant way, reaching the final already in the first tournament.
This will be Dodig’s 30th career final, and for his 16th title and third title with Polasek, he will battle against Argentine-French duo Maximo Gonzalez and Fabrice Martin.
Franko Skugor failed to reach the doubles final at the ATP tournament in Auckland. Skugor and his American partner Austin Krajicek lost in the semifinal to New Zealander Marcus Danielle and Austrian Philipp Oswald, who celebrated 6:2, 7:6 (5).
Croatian player Darija Jurak is also left without the title at the WTA tournament in Adelaide, after missing two match points with Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski in the final against American player Nichole Melichar and Chinese player Yi-Fan Xu. Jurak and Dabrowski led 6:2, 5:2, at 5:3 had two match points, and at 5:5 two break opportunities, but Melichar and Yi-Fan celebrated 2:6, 7:5, 10:5.
Recall, Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, the 24th best tennis player in the world, stopped Donna Vekic in the quarterfinal of the WTA tournament in Adelaide after two sets – 6:4, 6:3. Yastremska took away Veekic’s serve three times – she won the first set after a break in the tenth game, and the second in the eighth game. Donna had only one break-point in the third game of the first set. This was their third match and the third victory for the 19-year-old Ukrainian.
The first round of the Australian Open begins on Monday in Melbourne. Marin Cilic will face Corentin Moutet, Borna Coric will face Sam Querrey, Ivo Karlovic will play Vasek Pospisil, Petra Martic will play Christina McHale, and Donna Vekic will play Maria Sharapova.
Source: HTS
To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.
