Supertramp sang it in 1982: ‘It’s raining again’. You would almost expect the tournament organization to invite the band to the ATP party in Umag. On Tuesday the matches were suspended due to heavy rrain, on Wednesday it was no different, storm, rain and thunderstorms were the fate of players and tennis audience. Fortunately, a number of matches could still be played. We already reported on Stan Wawrinka’s match against Filip Misolic, but also the matches that had to be stopped on Tuesday due to rain could be completed. Marco Cecchinato, the winner of the tournament in 2018, seemed to be heading for an elimination against Alexander Shevchenko, because after losing the first set (6-4), he fell behind in the second set. However, he managed to beak back, so it came to a tie-break. He managed to win the tie-beak in a more than convincing way because he did not drop a point. That was the turning point in the match because much to the delight of the public. The Italian won to the third set (6-3), eventually coming off the court as the winner.
That also goes for Dino Prizmic who defeated Zsombor Piros 6-2; 6-3. Yet the Hungarians could also cheer in Umag because Fabian Marozsan managed to beat the Argentinian Juan Manuel Cerundolo. He won quite easily (6-3; 6-2). Alexander Popyrin also continues as he conquered Sebastian Ofner, who was seeded third and had a bye in the first round, the boss 6-4 and 6-1. In the Italian get-together, Matteo Arnaldi, who previously defeated Jesper de Jong, came out on top. He won his match against Flavio Cobolli who as a qualifier previously managed to win against Marin Cilic 6-3 and 7-6 (5). Dominic Thiem and the first seaded Czech Jiri Lehecka were still presented on the scoreboard, but they did not get further than 0-0. Just as they were about to hit the court, the storm broke. The crowd quickly evacuated and sought shelter. Except for that one daddy with his daughter. You can see them between the photos!
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