Poljičak Goes from Qualifying to Semifinals and Doubles Final in San Marino
The young Split native's results will see him break into the world's top 300 tennis players.
The young Split native's results will see him break into the world's top 300 tennis players.
Croatian tennis player Milije Poljičak is experiencing one of the best weeks of his career. At the ATP Challenger in San Marino, he managed to fight his way from qualifying all the way to the semifinals in singles, and on the same day, he also secured a spot in the doubles final, as reported by Telegram.hr.
Poljičak secured his place among the top four in singles after an extremely tense match against Frenchman Alexandre Müller, the tournament's fifth seed. He won 7-6(3), 6-7(4), 7-5 in a match that lasted nearly three hours, precisely 2 hours and 57 minutes.
The value of this victory is further heightened when considering the difference in ATP rankings. Müller is currently ranked 132nd, which is 220 positions better than the Croatian representative. However, Poljičak had already proven earlier in this tournament that rankings aren't decisive, having also defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Against the Frenchman, he played a very high-quality match. On the clay surface, he hit 17 aces and lost only ten points after his first serve. Out of 68 points played after landing his first serve, he won 58 of them. Müller had only two break point opportunities throughout the entire match.
The semifinal in San Marino is Poljičak's fifth consecutive win at this tournament. This result also brings him significant progress on the world rankings. According to current projections reported by Telegram.hr, the Split native will jump 56 places to 296th position. This will be the first time in his career that he breaks into the top 300 tennis players in the world.
His opponent in the semifinal will be Peruvian Juan Pablo Varillas, who also reached the semifinals through qualifying. That match is scheduled for today at 6 PM.
Poljičak's excellent week doesn't end there. Alongside Serbian tennis player Stefan Latinović, he has also secured a spot in the doubles final. This Croatian-Serbian combination has not dropped a single set in San Marino so far.
One of their most valuable victories came against the Dutch duo of Sander Arends and David Pel, who are ranked among the top 60 doubles players in the world. After that, they defeated Filip Duda and Michael Vrbenský, and in the semifinals, they overcame the Polish pair of Piotr Matuszewski and Filip Pieczonka.
This is only the second time Poljičak and Latinović have played together, with their first appearance coming last year at an ITF tournament in Portugal, where they won the $25,000 prize money event. Their combined record now stands at seven wins from as many matches, without a single loss.
For the 37th final of his career, Poljičak and Latinović will face the French pair of Luca Sanchez and Arthur Reymond. That match is scheduled for today, no earlier than 8:30 PM.
