As all the hype and spotlights are on Carlos, Rune, Sinner, there is a young gun emerging in the shadows. Unless you are a hardcore tennis observer you likely haven’t heard of him. Yet.
He’s from Croatia and he just won his first ATP Challenger title at age eighteen (birthday is August 5), beating Kimmer Coppejans in the final of Banja Luka 62 63.
Dino Prizmic is a dynamic, sensational player and the highlights of the Banja Luka final vs Coppejans show it.
Prizmic has been ascending this summer in both Challengers and the ATP main tour. He’s already ranked 175 in the world, after starting 2023 ranked 475. The six-foot-two, 175 pounder who is sponsored by Nike and wears a backward cap on court, has some notable wins this summer… Alex Molcan, Damir Dzumhur, Liam Broady, In Umag as a wildcard, he won two rounds including a 62 63 win vs no. 124 Zsombor Piros.
In June Prizmic won the Roland Garros boys championship 61 64 vs. Juan Carlos Prado Angelo.
I first heard of Prizmic about three or four years ago when he was I think fourteen. I can’t remember exactly how he first grabbed by attention but I think it was Ivan Ljubicic mentioned him on Instagram and because of how much I respect anything Ljubicic ever says about tennis, I took an interest and followed Prizmic. He’s been rising ever since and is now making big moves.
Tennis is a sport where there are young stars manufactured and promoted for the tennis establishment. But throughout history, there have always been outsiders who also managed to bust through the best laid plans and also achieve tennis greatness against all odds and the systemic preferences… Seles, Ljubicic, Cilic, Goran, Djokovic. You get the idea?
If Prizmic is at US Open qualies, I’ll be there. Stay tuned…
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Croatia · Dino Prizmic · Nike
