ZADAR/STARNBERG, March 21, 2022
The ATP Challenger Tour has returned to Croatia for the second edition of the Falkensteiner Punta Skala – Zadar Open hosted by the Tenis Klub Borik. The top seed and only Top 100 player in the 32-man singles draw of the €45,730 clay-court tournament fell in the opening round on Monday, as home favourite Duje Ajdukovic knocked out World No. 95 Gianluca Mager of Italy 6-2, 6-2.
Ajdukovic, a winner of four ITF World Tennis Tour events, capitalized on five of his 14 break-point chances to secure victory in one hour and 15 minutes. The 21-year-old Split native will next take on either Italian Lorenzo Giustino or Zsombor Piros from Hungary.
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Prizmic records first match win on the Challenger Tour
Another Croatian youngster delighted his home crowd when 16-year-old wild card entry Dino Prizmic upset veteran Denis Istomin from Uzbekistan 7-5, 6-3. In his first match on the Challenger Circuit, the World No. 1,431 broke his rival’s serve five times to advance after one hour and 51 minutes.
“I am very glad that I beat such an experienced player who has played in tournaments like this for a long time,” said Prizmic.
Up next for the teenager will be Flavio Cobolli. The sixth-seeded Italian rallied from a set down to overcome Nino Serdarusic of Croatia 1-6, 6-4, 6-1. The encounter lasted one hour and 51 minutes.
In other action, Andrea Vavassori of Italy beat Zhizhen Zhang from China 6-3, 7-6(3) in one hour and 37 minutes and awaits the winner of the match between local wild card entry Hamad Medjedovic and No. 4 seed Zdenek Kolar from the Czech Republic in the second round.
