Juan Martin del Potro required almost five hours to defeat world no.6 Marin Cilic 6-7(4), 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3, in a Davis Cup thriller to level Argentina’s tie with Croatia at 2-2.
The 4th rubber of the Davis Cup final was most likely the most awaited one. It saw facing each other Marin Cilic and Juan Martin del Potro, the two strongest players of their respective nations. The Argentinian had to win, if he wants to keep his team alive, after their loss in the doubles match that gave Croatia a 2-1 advantage on Saturday.
The match began with Cilic being very consistent with his serve and winning the first game. In the second the Argentinian suddenly went down 0-40 on his serve with Cilic dominating with his forehand and breaks to love, with del Potro giving the impression of not knowing what to do. Cilic Continued his plan of hitting his shots hard with his serve and forehand, giving del Potro no chance of fighting back in the rallies, strolling to a 3-0 lead.
Recovering from the sluggish start, del Potro resumed his usal high level of serving and began to dictate the rhythm of the rallies, shortening the gap to 1-3. In the following game Cilic went down 0-30 on his serve with two unforced mistakes, but recovers to 40-30. Del Potro then reaches the deuce with a very deep return. Del Potro had his first break-point of the match, but Cilic serves well, the score goes back to deuce. Del Potro with a huge forehand gain another break-point, but again Cilic serves an ace on the break-point. Del Potro then had two other break-points, both cancelled by Cilic, one with a volley, one with the serve. The Argentinian reaches a fifth break-point, but Cilic doesn’t allow del Potro to break back with a forehand on the line. Eventually, Cilic reaches the score of 4-1 in his advantage.
Del Potro doesn’t look down in the mood due to the lost break-points and wins his third serve game to love. In the seventh game there is Cilic serving and again the players have to play to the advantages and del Potro reaches a break point and eventually the Argentinian gets the break back, with a backhand error by Cilic for 4-4. In the ninth game Cilic scores three aces and goes up 5-4. Also del Potro serves very well in the following game and so the scores gets tied to 5-5. Both players afterwards held their service game easily, the first set goes to the tie-break. The deciding game, as it often happens, gives plenty of emotions. Cilic goes up 6-2, del Potro recovers to 6-4, but in the end loses 7-4. Admirable, amongst the other points, the forehand passing shot made by the Croatian on the 5-2, passing shot which gave Cilic a 6-2 lead. It must be taken in consideration that this was the first tie-break that Cilic won against del Potro in the career, at the fourth attempt.
In the opening game of the second set, del Potro gives Cilic a break-point, but on this occasion the Croatian hits slightly outside the line a forehand and in the end it’s del Potro who wins the first game. Cilic, on the other hand, wins easily his first game of serve, the score is tied on 1-1. Both players, in the following two games, give a good display of serve, the score keeps being tied, now it’s 2-2. In the fifth game, Cilic goes up 15-30 on del Potro’s serve and then reaches the deuce and at the second break-point, with a double-fault, Cilic breaks the Argentinian’s serve. In the sixth game Cilic dominates, once again mainly with the serve, and so the score becomes 4-2 for the home-player. In the seventh game Cilic goes up 0-40 on his rivals serve and breaks for the second time in a row, with del Potro looking like he has no answer to Cilic’s return. In the eighth game del Potro had two break-points, but in the end it’s Cilic that wins the set, with the score of 6-2.
Trailing by two sets, many feared that Argentina’s Davis Cup dreams were over. Then again, del Potro is a player that has come out triumphant when facing adversity throughout his entire career.
The third set begins with Argentina serving. Del Potro, with the score being 15-15, hits a lob-tweener winner, then goes up 40-15 and in the end the Argentinian wins the game without giving Cilic break-points. In the second game Cilic goes down 15-40 on his serve, but scores two aces in a row and reaches the deuce; another ace follows and then Cilic ties the score on 1-1 with a forehand winner. Del Potro wins easily the following game with his serve. The following four games see the serving players winning their respective games easily, the score becomes of 3-3. The third set is much less emotional than the first, and it had less twists in the score than the second; the players play very well on their own serve and so the score becomes of 5-4 in advantage of del Potro. In the tenth game del Potro is more than once at two points from winning the set (he gains an advantage of 15-30 and then reaches the deuce), but in the end it’s Cilic who wins the game. Del Potro wins after that the eleventh game. At this point, finally del Potro had a big chance, he gains and advantage of 0-40 on Cilic’s serve and then breaks the Croatian at 30, winning the set.
In the first game of the fourth set, Juan Martìn del Potro wins easily thanks to his serve. Cilic, on the other hand, holds his serve with ease, the score reaches the one all. The third game is a harsh battle, won by the Argentinian player, who gains an advantage of 2-1 without breaks. In the fourth game del Potro had two consecutive break-points, but the Argentinian doesn’t convert any and so the score becomes 2-2. Two battled games follow, but the score keeps being tied, 3-3. Del Potro starts struggling more with his serve, but despite this he holds his serve and then Cilic does the same with ease, so the score becomes of 4-4. The ninth game is quite chaotic, the Supervisor had to come into the court but in the end del Potro goes up 5-4. In the tenth game Cilic goes down 0-40 and gets broken so the match goes to the deciding set.
The fifth set starts with a break of serve in advantage of Cilic, with del Potro perhaps being tired, the match already lasted more than four hours. The Argentinian doesn’t give up, though, and counter-breaks immediately. In the third game del Potro holds the serve, even if with a little of a struggling, and for the first time in the match finds himself in advantage. In the fourth and fifth game the players hold their respective serve with ease, the score becomes then 3-2 in advantage of delPo. The game quality, in the fifth set, lowers a little, due to the tiredness of the more than 4 hours the players have already played. On the score of 4-3 in advantage of Argentina, Cilic goes down 15-40 on his serve and gives delPo two break-points. Del Potro wins the game at the first break-point and can serve for the match. The ninth game is the final one: del Potro dominates with his serve and forehand and secures the match.
“It’s tough for me to say something.” An highly emotional del Potro said during his on-court interview. “But I did my best playing with this (points to his heart), its amazing.”
As a result of the marathon match, which lasted seven minutes shy of the five-hour mark, the title will be decided in the final match of the tie. Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic will take on Federico Delbonis.
