David Nalbandian submits to Marin Cilic: Argentina vs. Croatia – Davis Cup WG Quarter-Finals 2012
Local crowd at Parque Roca, Buenos Aires, was in for supporting their home side against the Croatians for the Davis Cup World Group quarter-final battle. Former world number three, David Nalbandian, started off the proceedings
from the Argentine side but was outsmarted by the Croatian tennis ace, Marin Cilic, in a gruelling five-setter. The final score line was 5-7, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(2), 6-3, in favour of the Croat.
The enthralling encounter took five hours and nine minutes to conclude, ending in dismay of the local crowd. Nalbandian posed some solid resistance throughout the competition but couldn’t sustain his winning momentum until the
end. He bettered the Croatian spearhead in a several segments of the game but Cilic kept winning the crucial points to give his side a 1-0 lead right up in the quarter-final tie.
Nalbandian had a below par serve precision of 49 per cent in the matchup and coughed 11 double faults to award some un-fought points to his opponent. He won 72 out of 95 first serve points, while Cilic closely followed him by securing
65 out of 90 points. Both men registered five break points apiece in the match but it was just the matter of time that Nalbandian couldn’t perform well in the fifth set, eventually losing the matchup in a dismal manner.
The opening two sets of the match were split between the two competitors. The Argentine broke into lead once again after bagging the third set in a comprehensive manner, getting into a 2-1 lead. The see-saw battle continued with
Cilic winning the fourth set in a tie-breaker round. Nalbandian appeared drained out in the final set and couldn’t do much to resist the belligerence of the Croat visitor. Cilic went on with his usual aggressive game play and closed out the five-hour marathon
in his favour at 6-3.
Nalbandian’s defeat pushed the home side on the back foot but the former US Open champion, Juan Martin Del Potro, came out to rescue Team Argentina. The world number 11 was suffering from stomach problem but had no trouble in dumping
Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in straight sets, 6-2, 7-6(7), 6-1, to pull his side on level terms at 1-1 in the tie.
Eduardo Schwank and Nalbandian will team up for the doubles combat on Saturday and they will face the combination of Cilic and Karlovic on the outdoor clay court. The reverse singles rubbers will be played on Sunday to determine
the winner of the Davis Cup quarter-final tie.
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