Croatia have taken a 1-0 lead over Argentina in the Davis Cup final afte Marin Cilic beat Federico Delbonis 6-3 7-5 3-6 1-6 6-2 in the opening rubbber.
At the start of the match Cilic was the favourite to win the first rubber for Croatia, and that was evident as the Croat broke Delbonis in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. The one break was enough for the former US Open champion as he grabbed the opening set 6-3.
Despite the slow start Delbonis was determined not to be unfazed and held comfortably and started to gain momentum in the second set. However as the best players do, they break at important times in the match and that’s exactly what Cilic did as he broke in the eleventh game to lead 6-5. He then held in the next game to take the second set 7-5 and take a two sets to love lead.
Delbonis’ resistance was broken, and Cilic was in cruise control. What could possibly go wrong? Well apparently a lot could go wrong on Cilic’s behalf, as he got nervous and as a result Delbonis gained confidence. The Croatian started to hit double faults and that was enough for the Argentine to pounce, his reward was the satisfaction of breaking Cilic’s serve twice and taking the third set 6-3.
Croatian fans were starting to get tense and rightfully so. Cilic fell apart mentally in the fourth and Delbonis used his powerful shotmaking to help him break three times to grab the fourth set 6-1 and force a deciding set.
Nobody expected Delbonis to come back like he did. But could he actually damage the Croatian mood and win the first rubber for Argentina from an impossible position? Cilic soon settled the nerves of the home fans as he broke the Argentine’s serve in the first game, to gain the early momentum. Both men were edgy with the crowd during the fifth and final set. However Cilic stepped up his game, when he needed to he held serve to love twice to apply the pressure on Delbonis. The Croatian then broke in the seventh game and held to 15 to complete victory in three and a half hours. This is what it means to him:
Cilic gets it done in five and Croatia has a 1-0 lead over Argentina. #DavisCupFinal pic.twitter.com/4w6pzhqSnI
— TennisNow (@Tennis_Now) November 25, 2016
The win now means that Croatia lead Argentina 1-0. Cilic will still have a big part still to play in the coming days, as he could play the important doubles contest on Saturday as well as playing Juan Martin Del Potro. The second rubber will see Ivo Karlovic play Juan Martin Del Potro. A must win match for Del Potro, if Argentina are to stay alive in the Davis Cup Final.
