Davis Cup: Croatia lead 2-0 against USA thanks to Marin Cilic and Borna Coric

Croatia took a 2-0 lead over the USA in the Davis Cup semi-final. On Friday Marin Cilic and Borna Coric won clearly in three sets.

At the beginning of the Davis Cup semi-final between Croatia and the USA Borna Coric honoured Steve Johnson.

And the number 18 in the world from Croatia left nothing to be desired in Zadar. Right from the start, this year’s hall winner acted aggressively and highly concentrated. He nailed his American opponent to his weaker backhand and repeatedly set accents with his strong forehand.

Johnson, who works mostly with a slice on the backhand, had his problems with the slow ground. On the Croatian ashes, the World Ranked 30th gave his serve early and Coric secured the first round with a 6:4. the second round was a little tighter, but the local hero kept the upper hand in the tiebreak with 7:4.

Coric closed the match with a well-deserved 6-3 win in the third set, leading his country 1-0 on Friday.

The victory of the 21-year-old was followed by the leader of the Croatian formation in the person of Marin Cilic. The US Open quarter-finalist had to deal with the powerful American Frances Tiafoe.

And experience should prevail in this duel. With a clear 6:1, 6:3 and 7:6 (5) Cilic triumphed over his nine years younger opponent. At no time did Cilic cast any doubt on his role as a favourite, repeatedly setting accents with his fast basic strokes and strong basic strokes.

Tiafoe seemed partly overtaxed and had to accept the clear defeat in three sets after 2:16 hours of play. Thanks to the two strong performances of Cilic and Coric the Croatians have a great starting position for the rest of the Davis Cup weekend. Only one victory is still missing for Croatia to reach the final. In 2005, the Croatian team was the first unseeded team to win the Davis Cup.