ROVINJ, March 21, 2025

The top three seeds at the ITF World Tennis Tour M15 tournament in Rovinj – Serbia’s Stefan Popovic (ATP No. 445), Bosnia’s Andrej Nedic (ATP No. 555), and Ukraine’s Viacheslav Bielinskyi (ATP No. 540)—have successfully navigated their quarterfinal matches and remain in contention for the title at the second of three events in the 53rd edition of the Istarska Rivijera.

Top seed Popovic secured his semifinal spot with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over sixth-seeded Hungarian Gergely Madarasz. Meanwhile, second seed Nedic edged out eighth-seeded Italian Filippo Romano in a tight 7-6 (3), 6-4 battle. Third seed Bielinskyi triumphed over seventh-seeded Spaniard Sergi Perez Contri in a hard-fought 7-5, 7-5 win, echoing his victory over the same opponent in the final of the 2022 Opatija tournament, which will also host this year’s series of the Istarska Rivijera.

Joining them in the semifinals is Serbian qualifier Marko Maksimovic (ATP No. 1147), who delivered a commanding 6-1, 6-3 win over Italian Jacopo Vasami. With Maksimovic set to face Popovic in Saturday’s semifinal, Serbia is guaranteed a representative in Sunday’s final.

Croatian hopes end in doubles

Nikola Basic, the last remaining Croatian player in the tournament, was forced to withdraw from the doubles competition. His Slovenian partner, Jan Kupcic, was unable to compete in the semifinals due to Basic’s right knee injury. As a result, Italians Filippo Romano and Edoardo Zanada advanced to the final by walkover, where they will face the Czech duo of Matyas Cerny and Jonas Kucera.

Istarska Rivijera Rovinj – Friday Results

Singles – Quarterfinals

Stefan Popovic (Serbia/1) – Gergely Madarasz (Hungary/6) 6-3, 6-4

Marko Maksimovic (Serbia) – Jacopo Vasami (Italy) 6-1, 6-3

Viacheslav Bielinskyi (Ukraine/3) – Sergi Perez Contri (Spain/7) 7-5, 7-5

Andrej Nedic (Bosnia and Herzegovina/2) – Filippo Romano (Italy/8) 7-6 (3), 6-4