Meanwhile on the other side of Europe there was another tournament taking place that was minus some of the glimmer of Barcelona. Budapest, Hungary...the land of the gypsy and other wonderful tales of Europe. Marin Cilic and Borna Coric were in the draw but both disappeared in the early goings. Cilic in particular seems to be floundering as of late. He hasn't made the late rounds of anything he has entered in the past year. Or so it seems.
But there were a couple of emerging names that are deserving of mention. They might not quite be ready for the top echelon of the game but they are showing promise. Not to mention grit and determination. Matteo Berrettini was the winner of the venue and Filip Krajinovic was the runner up. An appropriately three setter in the final with Krajinovic possibly running out of gas late in the tourney.
Krajinovic in particular has been showing signs of not having an over abundance of respect for anybody who happens to be on the same tennis court as himself. By that I only mean that he isn't afraid to take on the big names on big courts. He stared Federer in the face down in Miami and didn't embarrass himself and he had a number of nice wins in Budapest with the big name going to Coric. Krajinovic is showing a talent for showing up on a consistent basis and competing hard all of the time.
I am a little less familiar with Barrettini but his name keeps popping up in conversation not to mention in draw sheets later and later in tournaments. Stefanos Tsitisipas mentioned his name in his Australian Open interview as being a very, very good players and Matteo was so good as to prove him correct in winning this ATP 250 venue.
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