Argentina set up Davis Cup final against Croatia

 

Argentina set up Davis Cup final against Croatia
Croatia's Marin Cilic react after defeating France's Richard Gasquet in Zadar on Sunday.

Published: Sun 18 Sep 2016, 10:26 PM

Last updated: Mon 19 Sep 2016, 12:37 AM

Marin Cilic sent Croatia into the Davis Cup final with a 6-3 6-2 7-5 victory against Richard Gasquet on Sunday that gave the hosts a 3-1 win over France. Later, Argentina defeated defending champions Great Britain 3-2 to reach the Davis Cup final on Sunday.
Leonardo Mayer beat Dan Evans 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to clinch the decisive rubber.
The South Americans will now face Croatia, who beat France in the other semi-final, in the final from November 25-27.
Earlier, Andy Murray hauled Great Britain level in their Davis Cup semifinal with Argentina following his comprehensive defeat of Guido Pella on Sunday.
 
For Croatia, the world number 11 relied on his big serve and his booming forehand to down Gasquet, who had given France the first point by beating Borna Coric on Friday.
Cilic restored parity on Friday when he saw off Lucas Pouille and he paired up with Ivan Dodig to give Croatia the lead with their win in the doubles against Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut on Saturday.
Croatia will play either defending champions Britain or Argentina, who were level at 2-2 in Glasgow.
"We played so many ties away, we had been waiting to play at home and now we just won in front of our home crowd it's amazing," said Croatia captain Zeljko Krajan.
"Marin was our leader all the way, he won everything despite the pressure that was on his shoulders. When you look at the atmosphere, it's an incredible feeling. It's been a dream weekend for us," said 2014 US Open winner Cilic.
"I played incredible tennis. I produced a great performance for all the crowd."
Gasquet, 17th in the world, was drafted in after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils pulled out with knee injuries.
After an early trade of breaks, Cilic took the measure of his opponent, who sent a backhand long to give the Croat a decisive break in the eighth game. Cilic breezed through the second set and after he broke in the first game of the third, there was not much hope left for Gasquet.
The world number 17, however, rallied back from 2-0 down but dropped his serve in the 11th game. That left Cilic to wrap it up on his first match point.
France were without the injured Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, their two best ranked players. Croatia's previous Davis Cup success came 11 years ago at the expense of Slovakia.
 

By Agencies

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