Davis Cup: France shortened in final against Croatia

Defending champions France have averted their early defeat in the Davis Cup final against Croatia. In the doubles, Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert won against Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic 6:4, 6:4, 3:6, 7:6 (7:3) and thus shortened to 1:2.

In a heated atmosphere, Dodig and Pavic turned one break behind in the third set, also in the fourth set they fended off three match points in a row at 4:5. In the tiebreak Herbert and Mahut played in front.

On Friday, Borna Coric and Marin Cilic led the guests in front of almost 20,000 spectators in the OSC Lille football stadium with clear individual victories.

Another success on Sunday (from 13.00 hrs) is enough for the Croats to win the second Davis Cup title after 2005. Cilic and Coric are planned for the two final singles. France probably has only two healthy individual players left in Jeremy Chardy and Lukas Pouille after Jo-Wilfried Tsonga complained about groin problems on Friday.

The ten-time title winner lacks his top players Richard Gasquet and Gael Monfils anyway. Captain Yannick Noah also gave up his budget number one Pouille for the time being. Croatia, on the other hand, will have the best team. Thirteen years ago Ivan Ljubicic, now coach of Swiss Roger Federer, and Mario Ancic had scored the three points to defeat Slovakia.

The match between France and Croatia is the last final to be played in the old mode. In September, the ITF adopted a reform that was as radical as it was controversial. Instead of four rounds of home and away matches in the World Group spread over the calendar year, there will be a final tournament for 18 teams for the first time in Madrid at the end of November 2019.

At the beginning of the meeting, ITF President David Haggerty gave a whistling concert in the Lille stadium when he was shown on the screen.

The date and the mode of the new Davis Cup had caused heavy criticism in the past months. Several top players as well as Germany’s newly elected ATP final winner Alexander Zverev have already categorically excluded their participation in the newly created event.