Zadar, (Croatia):Borna Coric kept his cool to prevail in a thrilling winner-takes-all duel with fellow young gun Frances Tiafoe here, Sunday and steer Croatia into the final of the Davis Cup for the second time in three years with a monumental 3-2 victory over the US.
The 21-year-old Coric came from two sets to one down to defeat the 20-year-old debutant Tiafoe 6-7(0-7), 6-1, 6-7(9-11), 6-1, 6-3 and finally subdue a remarkable fightback from the Americans, who had earlier levelled the tie 2-2 from two down.
Late understudy Sam Querrey had rewarded captain Jim Courier’s gamble by taking the tie into a decider in the fourth rubber, battling back from the brink of two sets down to beat home talisman Marin Cilic 6-7(2-7), 7-6(8-6) 6-3, 6-4.
Yet with everything resting on the first duel between two of tennis’s brightest young ‘Next Gen’ men, Coric overcame the loss of two very contrasting tie-breaks to book Croatia’s final date against champions France.
“That was unbelievable. This is the most special moment of my whole life,” said a thrilled Coric on court afterwards.
The French, who defeated Spain 3-2 in the other semifinal in Lille, will have home advantage in the November showdown and hope to avenge their 3-2 loss to the Croatians in the 2016 semifinal.
The self-styled men’s ‘World Cup of Tennis’ will also see a repeat of the football World Cup final in Russia with the French, 10-time Davis Cup champions, again favourites to beat the Croatians, whose only victory came in 2005.
At 0-2 down after Friday’s singles, there had not seemed the remotest chance of a US team without their top two players John Isner and Jack Sock recovering to reach a first final in 11 years.
Only when 40-year-old Mike Bryan and Ryan Harrison fought courageously to claw out a five-set doubles win, Saturday, were the Americans given even faint hope of contesting the last final to be staged under the traditional Davis Cup format.
But Courier was rewarded for a bold, if slightly desperate-looking risk when he rested his No.1 Steve Johnson and instead threw Querrey into the must-win fourth rubber even though the 30-year-old had never previously beaten Cilic in six attempts. But the World No.6 was found wanting when, after winning the opening set on a tie-break, he stood on the verge of a commanding lead.
He took a 6-1 lead in the second set tie-break in superb fashion only to crumble under Querrey’s onslaught with the American World No. 61 winning seven straight points.
“I just hung in there. After being 1-6 down in the tie-break, I just played aggressively and from then on the pressure just builds,” said Querrey.
Cilic’s early dominance on the outdoor clay, cheered by an enthusiastic crowd in the Dalmatian resort, then evaporated as Querrey took the next two sets to win in three hours and eight minutes.