Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig beat world number 1 doubles team Nicolas Mahut and Pierre Hugues Herbert 7-6 (8-6) 5-7 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 to give Croatia a 2-1 lead over France at the Kresimir Cosic Hall in Zadar in the BNP Paribas semifinal on Saturday. France hit 44 winners and 12 aces but Croatia saved five of the six break points they faced.
Richard Gasquet, who replaced injured Gael Monfils, prevailed over Borna Coric in four sets 6-2 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 in the first Friday’s first rubber match. Gasquet hit 27 winners to Coric’s 37 unforced errors. Coric, who defeated Jack Sock in the decisive fifth rubber match last July in the match between Croatia and the USA in four sets last July, was playing in his eighth Davis Cup match. In the second set the 19-year-old Croatian player failed to serve out at 5-4 before losing at the tie-break.
In the second rubber singles match 2014 US champion Marin Cilic beat French rising star and this year’s US Open quarter finalist Lukas Pouille 6-1 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-2 to level the match to 1-1.
The Croatian team fended off three break points on Cilic’s serve when they were trailing 2-3 in the first set. The next games went on serve until the tie-break where the home team prevailed after Herbert missed two consecutive volleys.
Both teams held serve until the 11th game in the second set when Herbert and Mahut broke serve to love before serving out to level the match.
France saved two set points in the third set when Herbert held serve to draw level to 5-5 before Mahut forced the set to the tie-break. Croatia opened up a 4-1 lead but France fought back by winning five of the next six points to take a 6-5 lead earning a set point. However, Dodig saved the set point on his serve before hitting a volley and a forehand winner down the line.
Cilic and Dodig got their first break of the match in the third game of the fourth set to take a 2-1 lead. The Croatian team brought up a triple match point and closed out the match with a break to love in 3 hours and 48 minutes.
Cilic and Dodig beat US twins Bob and Mike Bryan in a four-set match to lead Croatia to a come-back win from 0-2 down over the USA in the quarter finals last July in Portland
“I have to give a lot of credit to Dodig and our team captain, he prepared the tactics really well. Nicolas and Pierre served amazingly well today and it was extremely tough for me to return but we also served very well while I also felt very comfortable on the net. A few points decided the contest. It was a real thriller in both tie-breaks and fortunately we came out on top”, said Cilic.
A win by Cilic in the first reverse rubber match against Richard Gasquet on Sunday would earn Croatia their second Davis Cup final eleven years after Croatia beat Slovakia 3-2. Gasquet leads 2-1 over Cilic but the Croatian won in their only head-to-head match of 2016 at Indian Wells.
