Dino Prižmić, the Croatian top-ranked player on the ATP list as of Monday, opened his campaign at the Plava Laguna Croatia Open with a convincing 6-1, 6-3 victory over the eighth seed, Vito Kopril, in 77 minutes.
The Split native, currently ranked 84th in the world, started the match with a series of five won games, handing his opponent, ranked 20 places higher, just five points. He was flawless in key moments, converting all four break point opportunities and losing only four points on his own serve.
'I played really well in the first set and took many opportunities. I am satisfied with the first match, having not played points on clay for a while,' Prižmić said at the press conference, as reported by Prigorski.hr.
Kopril posed a threat only once, when he had three break points in the second game of the second set, but Prižmi$ cleared the danger with a series of five points and sealed the match with a break at the first match point in the ninth game of the second set.
In Umag, where he played in the quarter-finals in 2023 and 2025, he made his debut as a member of the world's top 100 and without a wildcard entry. This season, he has worked with coaches Bojan Jelovac and Marko Toic, with whom, he says, his game has become more aggressive. He is set to face the winner of the match between Slovakia's Alex Molcan and France's Valentine Royer, and will use Tuesday to train and recover.
The second Croatian representative in the singles draw, 20-year-old Matej Dodig, will play against experienced Spanish player Pablo Carreno Busta, a former top 10 player and seven-time ATP title winner, on Tuesday at 16:00 at the Goran Ivanisevic Stadium.
