Another week of upsets at the start of the season in Zagreb. Top seeds Cilic, Ljubicic and Garcia-Lopez failed to make the final and instead it is down to two relative unknowns to face each other in the final. Local talent Ivan Dodig will play German Michael Berrer.
Dodig has had a great week. The world number 84 has had a solid week, defeating the number 2 and 3 seeds and fighting like his life depended on it. He was down and out against Garcia-Lopez in the semi before rallying to victory. This is new territory for Dodig and he may feel the pressure. He is winning over 80% of his first serves during the tournament which is fantastic, however he is struggling on his second serve where he is lucky to win 40% of the points. If he is to win here he is going to have to up that second serve percentage winners or else Berrer will dominate the match. Berrer has been incredibly consistent this week and destroyed his compatriot Florian Mayer in the semi final yesterday evening. he is also winning over 80% of his first serves and around 65% of his second serves which is great stat. He reached the final here last year and obviously loves the courts. Berrer will have to face a very noisy local crowd woh will be cheering on Dodig and this could well infuence the match. Head to Head it is 1-0 to Dodig, the Croat winning 6-4 6-4 in Halle in 2009. This match was on grass though and both players have improved since then. This could be very close, but I think the German may just do it as he will get chances on the Dodig second serve.
Match Prediction
Berrer to win
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