Tennis: Dolgopolov breaks tour duck

UMAG: Ukrainian second-seed Alexander Dolgopolov won his first career title when he defeated home favourite and fourth-seed Marin Cilic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the Croatia Open final. The 22-year-old Dolgopolov, ranked at 26 in the world, had come into the tournament on a poor run of form, having lost his past four matches. However, the right-hander did not drop a set en route to the final. “I hadn’t won a title and everyone was talking about that a bit,” he said. “So I’m really happy that I eventually did win it, because I was playing pretty well for a year.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2011.