Marco Cecchinato from Italy and Argentina’s Guido Pella are in the final of this year’s Plava Laguna Croatia Open in Umag.
While number three seeded Cecchinato scored a smooth two-set win over Marco Trungelliti, Pella had to go the full distance to bring Dutchman Robin Haase to his knees 6:3, 1:6, 6:2.
“Overall I played a good match,” Pella was satisfied. “Only in the second set I didn’t feel good on the court, but afterwards I became more aggressive again. That’s what made the difference.” The 28-year-old from Buenos Aires will try to win his first title in his third final on the ATP World Tour. Pella was already in the final of Munich 2017 and the year before in Rio de Janeiro.
This time Marco Cecchinato stands in the way. The world number 27 finished the good run of Argentinian qualifier Marco Trungelliti, who was in his first ATP semi-final. 6:2, 6:1 was the favourite after only 66 minutes. “Preparation is the key to success,” said Cecchinato, who celebrated his first triumph on the ATP World Tour in Budapest in April and, following a victory over Novak Djokovic at the French Open, was the first Italian since Corrado Barazzutti in 1978 to make it into the semi-finals.
“I spent a lot of time with my coach in the gym. Concentration on the pitch is also extremely important,” stressed Cecchinato. In a direct comparison, it is 1:1, but the Italian could only record his victory by giving up the Argentinian at the ATP-Challenger-Tour-Finals 2015. “I know him well,” Cecchinato smiled when asked about his expectations for Sunday’s final. “Last year, I lost two sets to him. That much is certain: I will have to do better tomorrow.”
Robin Haase returned to the Centre Court late that evening. Together with his Dutch compatriot Matwe Middelkoop, he defeated the Czech duo Roman Jebavy and Jiri Vesely 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the double competition. It was the third title success for Haase and Middelkoop this year.
“This is the first time I’ve come to Umag and it feels a bit like a holiday. At the same time, everything is professionally organised,” Middelkoop was impressed by the atmosphere on the Adriatic coast. His partner had some nibbling to do in the singles after the defeat, but finally caught up in time. “I was disappointed because I think it was a good chance to reach the individual final,” Haase said in the subsequent press conference.
“Matwe had the energy on the court to catch me again and in the end it was probably a deserved victory for us.” The tandem has the chance to continue riding on the wave of success in the near future. Haase and Middelkoop are number 1 at the Swiss Open in Gstaad. “We will continue to play together in the coming weeks. The conditions at the tournaments in Gstaad and Kitzbühel will be quite good. That suits our style of play. We will also compete together at the US Open,” said Middelkoop about the further schedule.