How They Got Here: A look back at Croatia’s run to the Davis Cup final

This weekend, Croatia will look to win its second Davis Cup title—it captured its lone title in 2005­—behind Marin Cilic, Ivo Karlovic, Borna Coric and Ivan Dodig on indoor hard courts in Zagreb. It will take on Argentina—featuring Juan Martin del Potro, Federico Delbonis, Guido Pella and Leonardo Mayer—in what should be a fascinating tie between two nations hungry for a championship.

How did Croatia, led by captain Zeljko Krajan, get here? Let’s take a look.

FIRST ROUND

Unseeded Croatia was handed a brutal draw, and it started its campaign in March against second-seeded Belgium, last year’s finalist, in Liege. Cilic, a former U.S. Open champion, got Croatia out on the right foot in the first rubber with a straight-set win over Kimmer Coppejans. David Goffin edged Coric in a five-set classic to level the tie, but the Croats jumped back on top after Dodig and Franko Skugor topped Goffin and Ruben Bemelmans in the doubles rubber. With a chance to close it out, Cilic fell to Goffin. But in the deciding fifth rubber, the 20-year-old Coric handled Coppejans with ease to complete the upset and send Croatia to the quarterfinals.

QUARTERFINALS

Over four months later, the Croats took on the United States in front of an American crowd in Portland. Jack Sock came from two sets down in the first rubber to shock Cilic, and John Isner breezed past Coric in the second to give the Americans a comfortable 2-0 lead. On the brink of elimination, Cilic and Dodig kept Croatia alive with a four-set win over Mike and Bob Bryan, arguably the greatest doubles team in tennis history. Cilic took on Isner in the fourth rubber and, after winning a first-set tiebreaker 11-9, took the next two sets to level the tie and once again set up a decisive fifth rubber. For the second time in 2016, Coric came up huge for the Croats when it mattered most. His 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Sock completed Croatia’s improbable comeback, sending it into the semifinals. It was the first time that Croatia had ever won after trailing 2-0.

SEMIFINALS

For the first time all year, Croatia would play a tie at home, on indoor hard courts in Zadar. But despite that advantage, the fifth-seeded French team—even without the injured Gael Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga—would be tough to overcome. Coric, the hero in the first two ties, lost the opening rubber to Richard Gasquet in straight sets. But Cilic, the team’s undisputed leader and most accomplished player, tied it up with a four-set victory over Lucas Pouille. Croatia won its third straight Davis Cup doubles match of 2016 when Cilic and Dodig beat the dangerous team of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut. Up two to one, Cilic won his third match of the tie—defeating Gasquet in straights—to send Croatia to its first Davis Cup final in 11 years. In the fifth rubber, which was meaningless and inconsequential due to Croatia’s insurmountable lead, Pouille defeated Marin Draganja.