Big win for Marin Cilic over Alex De Minaur 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 and Croacia defeats Australia 2-0. Doubles to come with CRO heavy favorites. A 3-0 loss for AUS can compromise their chances to advance even as best two 2nd places...
Cilic sends Croatia past Australia with win over Alex De Minaur
ATPThursday, 25 November 2021 at 20:33
Marin Cilic and Alex De Minaur faced off in the crucial match for the Croatia Australia tie and it was Cilic who delivered the crucial point for his country.
It was a very interesting match between Cilic and De Minaur that went the distance and saw quite a bit of drama. It's arguably the best match of the first day and it started brilliantly for Cilic. In the first match, Popyrin completely bombed against Bojo putting a lot of pressure on De Minaur. The Australian did not handle it very well initially as he came out very nervous.
Cilic was cruising and playing very good tennis centered around his very good first serve. He attacked and De Minaur did not know what to do and very quickly it was 6-1 for Cilic in the first set. The 2nd set did not bring much better play from De Minaur initially as Cilic took a 2-0 lead with an early break. The Croatian seemed to be cruising in the match but suddenly he hit a wall.
It's nothing unusual for Cilic who tends to have stretches of terrible play in a lot of matches and this one proved costly. He was not serving well and generally overhit a lot of balls giving De Minaur a chance. The Australian pulled back the break and broke Cilic once more to win the 2nd set with 6-4. He was playing a lot more confidently and it showed.
That confidence lifted him up early as he took a 2-0 lead over Cilic and it seemed like Mektic and Pavic would have to secure the final point and victory for Croatia. Luckily for Cilic De MInaur experienced some issues and he was able to pull the break back. The momentum shifted in the Croatians favor and he was able to close out the match with 6-4.
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