Croatia tied with Germany at Davis Cup – Tennis update
During a Davis Cup fixture in Zagreb on Sunday, the 2005 Champions Croatia, where even at 2-2 with Germany after Marin Cilic destroyed Philipp Kohlschreiber in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, 7-6.
World ranked 20th Cilic faced the world number 35, Kohlschreiber, for the seventh time and was well prepared. The match started with both players in their top form but the Croatian won the first set by breaking Kohlschreiber’s serve in the fifth
and seventh game. Cilic fired three aces and despite having a lower first serve percentage, he earned an amazing 89 per cent win on it.
In the second set, after Cilic levelled the scores at 3-3, he charged up and broke the German’s serve twice to win with a 6-3 score line. Even though the Croat committed more double faults and had a lower first serve percentage, he clinched the match by
hammering four aces and registering an awesome 87 per cent on his first serve.
In the final set, the Croatian kept his winning momentum as he held his opening serve and broke Kohlschreiber’s serve in the following game. The German re-formed his game and fought back. He made this set worthwhile as he led the set to a tiebreaker but
Cilic kept his form to win the set with while producing seven ferocious aces.
“I played a lot of matches against Kohlschreiber and knew exactly what I had to do," Cilic said. "I served extremely well, played aggressive."
Overall, Cilic produced 35 winners as compared to German’s 26. Kohlschreiber on the other hand took no advantage of the seven double faults Cilic committed during the match.
Germany has beaten Croatia three times in their four meetings since 1995. In the previous round, German pair Christopher Kas and Philipp Petzschner overpowered the Croatians, Ivan Dodig and Ivo Karlovic, with a score line of 6-3, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday.
Karlovic, who set the record for the world's fastest serve in professional tennis at 251 kph during the doubles match, admitted Petzschner was too good.
Besides his booming serve, Karlovic and Dodig also fired 19 aces as opposed to Germans’ either and had a higher first serve percentage. They even committed fewer unforced errors, 35, as compared to the Germans’ 44. Eventually the Germans re-focused and re-formed
after losing the second and third sets to clinch the match. They outplayed the Croatians by hammering 56 winners, three breaks and registered an impressive 79 percent win on their first serves.
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