Ivan Dodig wins PBZ Zagreb Indoors
Ivan Dodig of Croatia beat Michael Berrer of Germany to win the PBZ Zagreb Indoors this Sunday. Dodig claimed his first ATP Tour title in front of his home crowd in straight sets of 6-3 and 6-4.
The Croat had never gone past the quarter-finals of any ATP tournament before. It was his first shot at the title and he cashed it in rightfully. Positioned at 84 in the world rankings, Dodig displayed his brilliant tennis skills as he outplayed his German
opponent. He has been in good form throughout the last week.
The Croat started the match with an instant break point in the very first game. His cross-court shot making was elegant and his first serve accuracy was good. He kept on building the pressure upon his opponent with some aggressive returns from the base line.
Dodig won the first three games of the match and denied three break points to Berrer in the opening set. His defence was solid and foot work was excellent. Keeping an error count to a minimum, Dodig wrapped up the first set at 6-3.
Entering the second set, Dodig kept his momentum going and playing good aggressive tennis. His German rival wasted each of the four serve breaking chances he had in the second set including when Dodig was serving for the match. The Croat inched further towards
victory when he had another break in the seventh game of the set.
Dodig started his victory celebrations as soon as he hit a serve which appeared to be an ace to him. He was throwing his racket to the enchanting local crowd when he noticed that the umpire Cedric Mourier has ruled his serve as ‘out’. Surprised Dodig had
to return to the court to play his last point again. Berrer won the next two points and it looked as if the match would extend to a couple of more games. However Dodig won the third point and sealed the victory to his name.
“It was a great match, and I think I played very good tactically,” said the winner. “The whole week was great for me.”
Michael Berrer was also the finalist in last year’s event when he was defeated by Croatia’s number 1 player, Marin Cilic. The Zagreb Indoor final has always witnessed a Croatian competitor since 2006 and the home players have won the title on three occasions.
This time was no different as another Croatian qualified for the final and took the trophy.
The German was disappointed with his performance in the final. “I did not play that good, it was probably my worst match during the week,” he said. “It’s not good when it happens in the final, but it happened.”
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