Cilic draws Croatia level in Split
Date published :
09 Jul 2010 - 11:12:23
Cilic draws Croatia level in SplitAfter Novak Djokovic had given the visitors the lead, Marin Cilic levelled proceedings at the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group quarterfinal between Croatia and Serbia in Split.Cilic defeated Serbian No. 2 Viktor Troicki 64 75 62, as he recorded a straight forward victory in 2 hours 23 minutes without ever facing a break point. Djokovic upsets Ljubicic comebackIn a classic, hostile Davis Cup environment, Novak Djokovic handled everything that Ivan Ljubicic and the Croatian crowd could throw at him to give Serbia the lead in the opening rubber.The world No. 2 needed a steady nerve as well as the necessary skills to come through against his popular 31-year-old opponent and winning the first set tiebreak may have been critical. While he could never take anything for granted, at least he was able to keep the crowd reasonably subdued as he went about establishing a 76(3) 64 61 victory.Ljubicic had come out of a three-and-a-half-year Davis Cup retirement to help Croatia in its hour of need after Ivo Karlovic pulled out, but he is not quite yet over the physical issues which brought some excellent spring form to a juddering halt. Djokovic could not have started better, racing into a 3-0 lead in the first set and was serving for the set at 5-3 when suddenly his game was consumed by errors. With the crowd roaring him on and cheering every tiny error by his opponent, Ljubicic broke back to take it to a tiebreak. This time Djokovic forged a double mini break which he was not about to let go and the set was clinched when a net cord tripped up Ljubicic. Ljubicic remained in contention until 4-all in the second set when a looping forehand went long and he was broken. When he was broken again in the opening game of the third set, Cilic must have begun readying himself for the task of trying to square the tie.Related links> DavisCup.tv> Twitter> Tie information> Audio interviews> Scorecards & stats> Ljubicic returns to face Djokovic> 'A memory for life' - Cilic> Troicki targets semifinal spot> Ljubicic answers Croatian callRelated websites> Information from Croatia Related Audio Interview with Novak Djokovic (SRB) - Friday Interview with Ivan Ljubicic (CRO) - Friday Interview with Viktor Troicki (SRB) - Friday Interview with captain Bogdan Obradovic (SRB) - Friday Interview with Croatian captain Goran Prpic - Friday Interview with Marin Cilic (CRO) - Friday If you cannot hear the audio, then please update your media player by following one of the links above.
