In Croatia, a small country with
many excellent tennis players such as the Wimbledon winner Goran
Ivanisevic or the US Open winner Marin
Cilic, the ATP Croatia Open in Umag is the
oldest and most popular tennis tournament.
The tournament began in 1990 as the
Yugoslavia Open and has been held every year since then. The matches take place on clay courts in the
Stella Maris tennis complex in Umag, directly by the sea. The main court named “
ATP Goran Ivanisevic” can accommodate up to 3.500 spectators.
The tournament takes place in July during the tourist season and attracts a growing number of people every year due to the matches and the
accompanying wine, gourmet and party programs. For example, the 2017 edition was broadcast in more than 100 countries around the world and
visited by around 100.000 people. Some of the
best international tennis players have played on the Umag clay courts: Marin Cilic, Rafael Nadal and Novak Dokovic, as well as Juan Carlos Ferrero, Ivan Ljubicic, Nikolay Davydenko and Ivo Karlovic.
Another big tennis name associated with ATP Croatia Open in Umag is
Carlos Moya. The Spanish tennis player has won this tournament
five times, more than anyone else. That is why the title "
King of Umag” that he received is well deserved. The former number one tennis player in the world was always looking forward to joining the tournament and said it was one of his favourites. After winning the ATP Umag once, Moya said: “
This is Umag. I can’t lose here.”
In addition to the standard program, there is also an
exhibition game with big tennis names such as
Goran Ivanisevic, Magnus Norman and Andre Agassi, who played there in some of the tournament’s previous exhibition games.
All of the above is more than reason enough to
visit the ATP Umag, which takes places
every summer during the tourist high season. This is a great opportunity to enjoy world class tennis!
Click here for a list of villas in the Umag area that offer the best accommodation for the next
ATP Croatia Open.
Sanda Kesedzic
13.5.2022
MY ISTRIA GUIDE
