Mili Poljičak Becomes Third Croat to Book Wimbledon Juniors Final!

Croatian tennis player Mili Poljičak advanced to the Wimbledon final in the junior competition, defeating Spaniard Pablo Rodenas 7-5, 6-2 in the semi-final match on Friday! 

The young Split tennis player, who will turn 18 in less than a week, dominated almost the entire match against Rodenas.

In the first set, he led 4-1 and had a break point for a 5-1 lead, but then came the only crisis period in the match for the young Croat. Rodenas saved that game, then returned to tie it at 4-4.

Fortunately, it only went up from here for Poljičak , who was able to solve the first set in the 10th game when he had two consecutive set points on the Spaniard’s service. However, Rodenas managed to level the score at 5-5, but when Poljiček lead 6-5, he again put pressure on his opponent who made a double fault on the third set point for 7-5.

In the second set, Poljičak quickly raced to 3-0, only to take away Rodenas’ serve once again at 5-2, thus achieving the greatest success in his career so far. It took the best Croatian junior an hour and 15 minutes to reach the final.

Poljičak is the third Croatian to reach the Wimbledon Juniors final. In 1996, Ivan Ljubičić lost to Vladimir Volčkov, and in 2000, Mario Ančić lost to Nicolas Mahut.

In the final, Poljičak will play against American Michael Zheng who beat Martin Landaluce in the other semi-final match on Sunday. 

Outside of the juniors competition, Croatia doubles team Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić will defend their Wimbledon title in the doubles after defeating Colombians Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in the semi-final of the third tennis Grand Slam tournament of the season. Mektić and Pavić won 6:7 (2), 7:6 (0), 4: 6, 6:2, 7:6 (10:4) after four hours and 22 minutes of play.

Mektić and Pavić will play after 16:00 on Satruday. 

To read more about sports in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page.

 

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