Ivan Dodig defeated #27 seed Fernando Verdasco on day 1 of the US Open in a tough five setter that lasted well over three hours as Dodig barely survived after taking a two set lead. The Croat was off to a great start in the first two sets against the heavy hitting Spaniard, where he converted 3 out of 6 break points to move into great position. Verdasco fought back to win the 3rd and 4th sets, but Ivan was able to grind out the 5th to advance. Dodig will be in action tomorrow with doubles partner Marcelo Melo, where they will be looking to continue their doubles form after reaching the Australian Open final. He will play #42 Nikolay Davydenko in his second round singles match.
Joining Dodig in the men’s draw is Ivo Karlović, who won his three qualifying matches to secure his spot in the main draw. He will play American James Blake in the first round on Wednesday. Marin Čilić will not be present for sometime, with rumors circulating that he has failed a drug test and could face up to a year’s suspension.
Donna Vekić, Ajla Tomljanović, and Mirjana Lucić-Baroni will be representing Croatia in the women’s draw, after Lucić and Tomljanović successfully navigated the qualifying rounds. All three will play their first round matches on Tuesday.
Trans World Sport special on Vekić
I noticed that yeah.. beats me
Mirjana Lucic is playing doubles with Jelena Jankovic. How the heck did they team up?
Majstore: There have been serbs popping up on the site lately a few times, i think its cos of the upcoming game so that might explain some of the more abject crap
Ivo Karlovic won tonight in 5 sets, winning the last one in a tie-breaker. He had lost the first two sets.
Prior to this, he had only won once while being down two sets…and it was also to James Blake in 2009.
Blake had a weak serve, so Karlovic was able to break him on two of the set tie-breakers.
Didn’t see any Croatian shirts in the stands as there were few fans left by the time the match ended at 12:15 p.m. EST.
Wtf is wrong with you dude (and some people in general on here)??? Wow.
@iggy…………scarfs are fine and jerseys without a last name on the back are fine as well. Remember this to avoid any forms of jock sniffing.
Although she is developing a british accent, we can tell Donna is still 100% croat by her ” i dont like studying”, bravo Donna ne volim ni ja uciti!!!
Hopefully a jersey and a scarf doesnt make one too mu8ch of a jocksniffer in Ziva’s mind we all know how desperate we are to avoid that accusation !
OK I received my euro2012 HRVATSKA scarf that cost me $2 from the UK so i figured its time to update to a topical display pic with a sentiment i think we can all agree with
not sure how long til it will update
Bloody Marin, bloody doping arsehole. He was our only hope and it turns out he’s a cheating scumbag.
And i used to love the guy as others might remember but cheating’s cheating and u gotta throw the book at em.
Looks like there are more prospects on the womens side of youngeons coming thru than mens atm, can anyone even name any young male croat players on the rise?? I sure as hell cant