The eyes of the tennis world turned to Dino Prizmic when the Croatian was drawn to play Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. Prizmic entered the Australian Open main draw as a qualifier and will be playing in his first ever Australian Open. The Croatian shares a similar history with 2001 Wimbledon champion, Goran Ivanisevic.
Prizmic was raised in Split, which is also the birthplace of Goran Ivanisevic. Earlier it was a part of Yugoslavia but has been since made a part of Croatia by the time Prizmic was born. Goran Ivanisevic has been a keen admirer of the Croatian and has been often spotted at his matches. Ivanisevic was often seen watching him compete at the junior Roland Garros in Paris last year.
Dino Prizmic started playing tennis at the Tenis Klub Split, where Ivanisevic started his tennis career too. Goran Ivanisevic was impressed by Prizmic’s performance as a nine year old and encouraged the Croatian young star to keep working hard. At the age of 14, the Croatian moved to Zagreb, looking for more opportunities to train with the best players.
The young Croatian won the Roland Garros boy’s singles title in 2023 and dropped just one set in the process. Prizmic won his first ATP challengers title shortly after his 18th birthday. The Croatian won the ATP Challenger trophy in Banja Luka and broke into the top 200 rankings in the world.
Prizmic has created quite a name for himself after his heroics in 2023. The Croatian joined the esteemed company of Stan Wawrinka by becoming the first player to do a Roland Garros juniors singles title and a challenger trophy double. Prizmic matched the Swiss stars’ record that he achieved in 2003.
Tennis legend Martin Cilic full of praise about Dino Prizmic
Martin Cilic and Dino Prizmic played together at the Davis Cup for Croatia. Cilic has been Croatia’s best player in recent times. Although he did not win a title, Cilic made it to the finals of the Australian Open and the Wimbledon. Talking about the youngster, Cilic was full of praise and described the 18 year-old as ‘very mature’ for his young age.
“He’s extremely mature. I wouldn’t call him a young kid, I would call him more like a young gentleman. He matured that a lot in the last 12 to 18 months and had incredible, incredible rise with his game, with his understanding of the game. He improved his physicality. Everything has improved.”
Martin Cilic has predicted big things ahead for the young Croatian. The veteran feels that Prizmic will succeed soon but has to wait for his chance. Now, Prizmic will aim to make a name for himself at the Grand Slam stage in 2024 as the 18-year-old will look to make this his breakthrough year.
