Day 3: Croatia went into the final day of their Davis Cup tie against Italy needing wins from Marin Čilić and Ivan Dodig to come from behind to secure a quarterfinal berth. They fell just short with Čilić winning the first match but Dodig going down in the second. The Croatians next play in a playoff in September to keep their spot in the World Group. Italy advances to the quarterfinals for the first time since 1988.
Čilić won his second match of the tie, defeating #18 Andreas Seppi in straight sets 6-3, 6-3, 7-5.Marin was very impressive in the first two sets and came from down a break to take the third set by winning the final three games. This puts the Čilić-Seppi season series at 1-1, with Seppi beating Čilić in January at the Australian Open. The two are the top seeds at the PBZ Zagreb Indoors, which begins tomorrow. Marin has won the tournament twice.
Dodig was given the chance to send Croatia through to the quarterfinals, but fell to #44 Fabio Fognini 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Dodig will also play in the Zagreb Indoors tournament.
“It was tough for Ivan to play the whole game at the same level after two really tough days. I’m disappointed that we lost for sure but we gave everything that we could. The guys really fought really hard and I’m really proud of them.” -Croatia Captain Zeljko Krajan
Day 2: The second day of competition in Croatia’s Davis Cup tie saw Ivan Dodig and Marin Čilić fall in four sets to Simone Bolleli and Fabio Fognini 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, 7-6(11). The pressure will be on come Sunday. Things looked to be going well for the Croats as they won the first set while only losing nine points on their serve. The second and third sets were the exact opposite of the first with Čilić and Dodig winning just eleven points off the Italians’ serves. They fought back in the 4th but lost a heartbreaking tiebreaker 11-13.
The loss puts Croatia down 2-1 and the fourth match of the tie will be Čilić vs Seppi. Should Marin manage to do what he failed to do at the Aussie Open and beat Seppi, Dodig will play Paolo Lorenzi in the final match.
“Tomorrow will be difficult. Seppi will be fresher than me, but it will be a great challenge and a test to try to get the best out of myself in and get accustomed to playing all three days of the Davis Cup in the future.” -Marin Čilić
Day 1: It was a mixed, but not unexpected day in Italy at the Davis Cup, with both top seeds winning. Marin Čilić won a tough 5-setter against Paolo Lorenzi and Andreas Seppi defeated Ivan Dodig in four sets. Both matches lasted over three hours. Čilić and Dodig will play again tomorrow in the doubles match.
Marin Čilić was scheduled to play Fabio Fognini in the first match of the cup tie, but Fognini came down with the flu and Čilić instead faced #61 Paolo Lorenzi. Lorenzi cetaintly didn’t play as if he had been chosen at the last minute and it turned out to be a long, hard-fought five-setter. Marin quickly broke twice in the first set to take it 6-1 and it looked like it would be an easy one. However, it never seems to be an easy win with Marin. The second set stayed on serve throughout as Lorenzi failed to take advantage of four break points. Lorenzi won the tiebreak 8-6 and took that momentum into the third where he broke Čilić at 2-1 and held on to take it 6-4. Čilić threw away three break points in the third set as it appeared to be falling apart for him.
In the 4th, Marin managed to take advantage of one of his six break point chances and held his serve very easily to win 6-3 and force the decisive fifth set. Čilić was brilliant on his serve once again and capitalized on his two break point chances to win 6-2. The match lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes, which could effect Marin’s fitness level as he plays tomorrow before a tough match against Andreas Seppi.
“The first set I played very well, the second and third not at all, and in the fourth and fifth I found a way to win.The main thing was to stay focused down 2:1. It would be great to win the doubles, it may be crucial, because the team that enters Sunday up 2-1 has a great advantage. Ivan and I will play doubles. ” –Marin Čilić
Ivan Dodig lost in four sets to #18 Andreas Seppi 6-2, 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-4. Ivan put up a good fight and managed to take the second set in a tiebreaker but was outgunned and just a level behind Seppi. He gave up 13 break points, with Seppi taking six of them. With the 4th set on serve at 5-4, Dodig went down 0-40, and nearly managed to fight back before double faulting on match point #3. Dodig will look to rebound in doubles tomorrow. Should the tie lie at 2-2 come Sunday, Dodig will play Paolo Lorenzi in the deciding match.
Preview: Croatia’s 2013 Davis Cup campaign kicks off this weekend (Friday-Sunday) as they face a difficult first round test against Italy. Despite being the #7 seed, Croatia still come in as slight underdogs against #13 Italy. Should Croatia win, they will likely play #1 Spain in the quarterfinals. A loss would send them into a World Group relegation playoff against one of the winners of Group 1. Croatia has been relegated to Group 1 only once in the past 12 years. This is Italy’s second consecutive year in the World Group, after failing to make it since 2000. Croatia’s women (Ranked 40th), who play next week, are in Group 1 of the Fed Cup and play next week. The Fed Cup has a World Group 1 and World Group 2, so the Croatian women currently lie in the 3rd division. Both Donna Vekić and Ana Konjuh have been called to that team.
Friday’s matches will see the singles number ones face their opponents number twos. #13 Marin Čilić will face off against #44 Fabio Fognini in the first match of the day and it will be followed by #59 Ivan Dodig attempting to upset #18 Andreas Seppi. Doubles will be played on Saturday, with Croatia fielding two very inexperienced and low ranked players, Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić. Antonio Veić was expected to play doubles for Croatia, but sprained his ankle while preparing for the tournament. Croatia will also be without their previous #2, Ivo Karlović, who retired from the Davis Cup at the end of last year. Day 3, if necessary, will see the day 1 singles ties reversed as Čilić will get a chance for revenge against Seppi, who knocked him out in five sets at this years Australian Open. Ivan Dodig will play Fabio Fognini should the tie stand at 2-2.
2012 Queens Final
Cilic vs Nalbandian
Check out Nalbandian go crazy at 5:15 and how the match finished:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfEtnqP_4_c
@Ziva
true but as you know plenty of Jugos (on this site as well) cry for the old days
Well, at the time of their birth it was still Yugo.
ah yes..
from wiki:
“On February 21, 2011, Ančić announced his retirement from professional tennis due to recurring mononucleosis.”
hate it when that happens..
also, i hate the way wiki calls Split and any Croat town “Yugoslavia” in its databases as far as when ppl were born. Bringing my piss to a boil.
Ancic…….retired after being sick or injured half his career. In the US last I checked interning at a NYC law firm and taking classes at Columbia.
Yeah Seppi is definitely not a nobody, he’s a reasonable 2nd-tier player, it was away from home, on clay, and it was straight sets – and he had recently lost to him in 5 at the aussie open. It WAS impressive. Yes i agree he underperforms overall.. he should be top 10 as he was in 2010. He needs to pick up his act i know.. but he has some good qualities too, ie he’s very good at pressure moments and his temperament is calm (which lets be honest is not common for us croats). As far as tennis goes we dont have much to hang our hats on atm.. and Davis Cup is tough when u have one guy carrying the whole team, the days of Ancic + Goran + Ljubicic are long gone im afraid. But Marin has a 14-7 singles record in davis cup, that’s good. Not as good as Goran’s crazy record of i think its 27-9 or something like that, but still..
What ever happened to Mario Ancic anyway ?
Seppi isnt a no-name guy, hes top 20. Good win but needs to do it more often
@iggy……impressive win??????? He beat a no name guy. Yeah, really impressive. Wake me up about Cilic when he is able to get to the QFs of grand slams and master series events on a consistent basis. I parlayed the Davis Cup betting against cro and taking the Czech Republic, Serbs and Canada…..nice little pay off.
Doubles was the killer :_(___
Sigh…
That really sucks.. SADFACE.
Marin did his job and we still lost. Impressive win from Cilic tho.. straight says away from home like that. All you doubters can eat humble pie – poor Marin !
Marin got the win, Dodig is in trouble though
I think as long as Marin can win we got this, hope to god because we would play Canada next most likely and can pull that one of two, keep fingers crossed
Aww nah Marin’s alright.. granted he stagnated a couple of years now but he’s still not bad..
Well now we are in DEEP DEEP SHIT having lost that doubles.. Sigh.. only a very small chance, i think Marin will be too tired to beat Seppi : /
Me too. I dont know about ease, but their games seem to be going in different directions right now.
I thin Raonic would be him with ease
Raonic/Cilic would be an awesome match!
Tickets for Canada/Spain and last years Canada/France Davis Cup are through the roof in Vancouver. It’s a pretty posh crowd but im sure some Hrvati (myself included) would try to find a way to go if they played it here.
Playing Canada could be interesting because I’m not sure who would be the home team for that tie. If Canada were to host, we might be able to have more fans at the match depending where it is at.
HUGE upset brewing in Canada. No Nadal, Almagro, or Ferrer for Spain and they’re down 2-0 to Canada. Makes Croatia’s match that much bigger now that we have a realistic chance of a semifinal berth
Definitely a gamble to play our singles guys three days in a row but if they win tomorrow itll be worth it
Nice tracksuits
if Marin and Dodig play doubles i mean
Yeah i wouldn’t have thought that would be the doubles team either but.. it’s asking a lot of Marin, especially after 5 sets in the first match. He’ll be exhausted when he plays Seppi..
well it looka like thats where were headed…
I really doubt Mektic and Pavic will play doubles. Only way they will id if we go up 2-0 today and then play those tow to rest Cilic and Dodig for Sunday. If we go 1-1 today or go behind 0-2, no chance those kids play.
Its on clay. Were gonna need either Cilic or Dodig to beat Seppi for us to have a chance
With that doubles pairing we will find it difficult i think..
What surface???? I am assuming it’s clay.