PBZ Zagreb Indoors

Croatian Ivan Dodig won his first ATP World Tour title on home soil as he defeated eighth seed Michael Berrer 6-3, 6-4 in the final of the PBZ Zagreb Indoors on Sunday.

Final Report

ATPWorldTour.com caught up with Dodig after his maiden title.

How does it feel to win your first ATP World Tour title in your home country?

Ivan Dodig ensured the PBZ Zagreb Indoors trophy remained in Croatian hands for the third straight year as he won his first ATP World Tour title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over eighth seed Michael Berrer in Sunday’s final at the ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard-court tennis tournament.

World No. 84 Ivan Dodig continued his fairytale run at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors Saturday as he held off third seed Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in just under three hours to reach his first ATP World Tour final.

Dodig’s victory means that Croatia will be represented in the final of the ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard-court tennis tournament for the fifth successive year. Ivan Ljubicic won the trophy in 2006 and Marin Cilic captured back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010

An all-star line-up will take the courts in Zagreb for the quarter-finals of the PBZ Zagreb Indoors on Friday. In addition, it’s only the second time in an ATP World Tour tournament at least three Croats are in the quarter-finals. The only other time it occurred was here two years ago when four Croats advanced to the quarters.

Croatian No. 1 Ivan Ljubicic booked his place in the quarter-finals of the PBZ Zagreb Indoors on Thursday with a 6-2, 6-3 win over German Daniel Brands.
The second seed, who won the ATP World Tour 250 indoor hard-court tennis tournament in 2006 (d. Koubek) and reached back-to-back finals in 2007 (l. to Baghdatis) and 2008 (l. to Stakhovsky), improved to a 16-4 event record.

Three-time finalist Ivan Ljubicic reached the Zagreb Indoors quarterfinals by defeating Daniel Brands of Germany 6-2, 6-3 in the second round on Thursday.

Ljubicic won the title in front of home fans in 2006, and made the final in ’07 and ’08.

American qualifier Alex Bogomolov advanced to his first ATP quarterfinals in 19 months by overcoming seventh-seeded Philipp Petzschner of Germany 6-1, 6-2.

The first round wraps up and the second round begins at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors on Wednesday, with four seeds seeking quarter-final berths at the ATP World Tour 250 tournament.

Top seed Marin Cilic of Croatia battled to a 7-6 6-4 win over compatriot Ivo Karlovic to stay on course for his second consecutive Zagreb Indoors title.

The Australian Open semi-finalist and world number 10 faced 24 aces from the towering 6-foot-10 (2.08 metres) Karlovic in the first set which he edged in a tiebreak.

Croatian Marin Cilic eased into the quarter-finals in Zagreb with a 6-2 6-1 win over German Daniel Koellerer.

Australian Open semi-finalist Marin Cilic cruised through his opening match at ATP Zagreb with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Jan Hajek.