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Spaniard to next face Andrej Martin
Seventh seed Carlos Alcaraz rallied from a set down for just the second time in his ATP Tour career to take down Lucas Pouille on Tuesday and make a winning start at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag.

In his first outing as a seeded player at a tour-level event, the #NextGenATP Spaniard was overpowered in the first set by Pouille, a former Top 10 player currently No. 103 in the FedEx ATP Rankings. But the 18-year-old raised his level and came back in the second and third sets to win 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

"I don't feel different being a seed, because I still come to these tournaments with the goal of growing and playing these kinds of matches," Alcaraz said. "In the end, it's the matches that count and give you experience and that you learn from. I come to these tournaments to learn from the really great players."


Alcaraz, who sits one spot away from his career-high World No. 72 ranking, won 70 per cent (35/50) of his first-serve points and broke the Frenchman three times en route to victory. He improved to 7-5 on clay courts on the season, as he looks to build on his run to the Marbella semi-finals in April.

He will next face Andrej Martin, who needed two hours and 36 minutes to fight back after dropping the first set to lucky loser Renzo Olivo. Martin saved 14 of the 20 break points he faced as he clinched a 1-6, 6-2, 7-6(1) victory.

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Also in action, Marco Cecchinato took down fifth seed Aljaz Bedene 6-1, 6-4 to improve to 2-3 in their ATP Head2Head. Cecchinato, a finalist in Parma in May, is now 14-12 on clay in 2021 and will next face Damir Dzhumur, who scored a 6-4, 6-3 win over qualifier Filip Horansky.

Local wild card Duje Ajdukovic gave Croatian fans plenty to cheer for after defeating Argentine qualifier Andrea Collarini 6-3, 6-2 to claim his first-ever tour-level main draw win. The 20-year-old booked a second-round clash with top seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas as a reward.

Lajovic, Krajinovic also win through
#NextGenATP Carlos Alcaraz overcame an early deficit to charge past Andrej Martin 6-3, 6-1 on Wednesday at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag and power into his second ATP Tour quarter-final.

The 18-year-old has been on a steady climb up the FedEx ATP Rankings in 2021. He entered Umag as the seventh seed – his first appearance as a seeded player at a tour-level event – and one spot shy of his career-high of World No. 72. With the victory over Martin, he has amassed a 12-10 record on the season, highlighted by a run to the semi-finals in Marbella in April.

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He was made to work by 31-year-old Slovakian Martin, who raced to an early lead on Goran Ivanisevic Stadion – as the court’s namesake, who was recently inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, watched on from the stands. Martin took a 3-1 lead with an early break as Alcaraz, who sported heavy taping on his right arm and elbow, needed a few games to settle into the match. But once the Spaniard found his footing, there was no looking back.

The 18-year-old raised his level to break straight back, and won five consecutive games from 1-3 to seal the opening set. The same pattern emerged in the second set: Martin took an early lead with a break at 1-0, but Alcaraz never let him race away with it. He responded by winning six games in a row and closing out the victory in an hour and 16 minutes.

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Alcaraz will next face third seed Filip Krajinovic, after the Serbian player won 76 per cent (28/37) of first-serve points to defeat Radu Albot 6-4, 6-2. Krajinovic improved to 10-7 in clay-court matches on the season, and booked a spot into his fourth quarter-final of the year.

Second seed Dusan Lajovic also won on Thursday in Umag, needing an hour and 51 minutes to take down Bernabe Zapata Miralles 7-5, 6-4. Lajovic, who also reached the last eight on clay in Hamburg and Belgrade, converted four of his 12 break opportunities en route to victory. He will next face Daniel Altmaier, after the German qualifier upset eighth seed Gianluca Mager with a 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 comeback win.

The #NextGenATP Spaniard will play Gasquet for the title
#NextGenATP star Carlos Alcaraz turned to his team and roared after hitting a final backhand winner on Saturday evening in Umag. The 18-year-old will not soon forget that moment, when he clinched a berth in his first tour-level final.

Alcaraz clawed past top seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2, 7-6(3) to advance to the championship match at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open Umag and become the youngest ATP Tour finalist since 18-year-old Kei Nishikori won the Delray Beach title in 2008.

The teen first broke onto the scene last February as a 16-year-old ranked outside of the Top 400 in Rio de Janeiro, where he defeated Ramos-Vinolas in a three-hour, 37-minute marathon. Alcaraz showed his growth in Croatia, where he overpowered his countryman for much of the match before battling through the second-set tie-break to triumph after exactly two hours.

Ramos-Vinolas, who triumphed earlier this year in Estoril, was trying to reach his 11th ATP Tour final, and he fought hard to recover a break deficit on three occasions in the second set, including when Alcaraz served for the match at 6-2, 7-5.

The teen, seeded seventh this week, said on Friday that he learned from losing his first tour-level semi-final earlier this year in Marbella. And Alcaraz proved it against Ramos-Vinolas, staying composed despite his missed opportunities. The World No. 73 went for his shots in the biggest moments, and was rewarded with a trip to the final.

Alcaraz will play an experienced opponent on Sunday in former World No. 7 Richard Gasquet.

The fourth seed battled past German qualifier Daniel Altmaier 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-3 after three hours and 11 minutes to reach the championship match. This will be Gasquet's first tour-level final since Bastad in 2018.

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Gasquet, a 35-year-old, is the second-oldest finalist in tournament history, only trailing Paolo Lorenzi, who was 35 in 2017. The Frenchman is a 15-time ATP Tour titlist and this will be his 32nd tour-level final. Gasquet had lost five consecutive semi-finals before this match, but he relied on all his experience to battle through this marathon against a motivated Altmaier.

The veteran saved seven of his 10 break points, but he was only able to convert three of his 17 opportunities. In the deciding set, Gasquet won 43 per cent of his return points to triumph.