After Borna Ćorić defeated Jeremy Chardy and brought Croatia up 1:0 in the Davis Cup finals in Lille, Marin Čilić defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3:0 in sets, thus bringing Croatia one step closer to winning the competition for the second time in history.
Croatia is even closer to their second Davis Cup title. After the triumph in 2005 led by Ivan Ljubičić and Mario Ančić, Borna Ćorić and Marin Čilić could be the ones bring the Davis Cup to Croatia for the second time, reports T.portal on November 23, 2018.
After Friday’s games in Lille, Croatia now leads 2:0, and they are just one point away from winning the prestigious trophy. The first point for Croatia was secured in the early afternoon by Borna Ćorić who won over Jeremy Chardy, while Croatia’s best tennis player Marin Čilić brought the team their second point.
Against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Čilić entered the duel as the favorite and justified his place on the court. Already in the first set, Marin showed that he was in better form this season than Tsonga to take the first set 6:3.
In the second set, Tsonga tried to get back in the game, but Čilić saved two breaks at 3:4 and at 5:5 he took the serve of his opponent. At 7:5, he took the second set.
The French audience became nervous, occasionally whistling at Marin while he was serving, but the seventh best tennis player in the world was not bothered. In the third set, Čilić managed to hold his own, and at 2:2, he took over Tsonga’s serve again. Čilić won the third set 6:4.
Croatia has reached a massive 2:0 advantage in the finals and on Saturday, Mate Pavić and Ivan Dodig have the chance to finish the job. The pair will play against Herbert and Mahut at 2 pm.
However, it’s still too early to celebrate. Recall, Croatia led the USA in the semi-finals, though it turned into a dramatic Sunday between the two nations. Nevertheless, this is an excellent result for Croatia to start.
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