Marin Cilic is Croatia’s sole remaining hope of a home champion at this week’s ATP event in Umag.
There were high hopes for third seed Ivan Ljubicic after the veteran enjoyed a good clay-court season earlier this year. Ljubicic however, has never won an ATP title on clay and he was unlucky enough to draw Juan Carlos Ferrero first up this week, losing in three.
Cilic was fairly unconvincing in Hamburg last week but he scraped through to the quarters before going out to Mikhail Youzhny. Seeded third this week and sure to receive plenty of support, he will be hopeful of going deep.
Haase is closing in on the top 50 again after a spate of injuries hampered him early in his career and the lanky Dutchman has plenty of potential. He knocked out Fernando Verdasco at Wimbledon but slow surfaces are not really his thing. He battled past a qualifier in three sets in the first round here and is generally too inconsistent to prove much of a threat on clay.
Cilic has won all three of their past matches and beat Haase in straight sets at the French Open three years ago.
Prediction: Cilic in two.
