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3/5/11 5:39 AM | Ricky Dimon
Germany and Croatia are tied 1-1 after a pair of five-setters on Friday in Zagreb. Marin Cilic defeats Florian Mayer before Philipp Kohlschreiber saves a match point and outlasts Ivan Dodig.
Marin Cilic d. Florian Mayer 4-6, 6-0, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
Cilic avenged an early-season loss and--more importantly--put his country ahead in the Davis Cup first round with a five-set victory over Mayer on Friday afternoon. The 6'6'' Croat gave the home team the lead over Germany after three hours and 12 minutes of play.
For a while, however, it looked like Mayer would once again get the best of Cilic. The world No. 36 did not face a single break point in the first set, so one break allowed him to serve it out at 5-4. Mayer completely disappeared in set two, but he recovered to break Cilic three times in the third before finishing it off on serve at 5-4. Faced with another set deficit but armed with a rowdy Croatian crowd behind him, Cilic promptly stormed back. The world No. 20 dropped only six service points in the fourth frame of play and one break of his own proved to enough to force a decisive fifth.
Whereas Mayer rebounded from his second-set hiccup, he could not bounce back this time. The German eventually surrendered a marathon service game to open the set and from there it was all Cilic. Croatia's top player saved two break points and added two more breaks of his own--the last of which came at 5-1 to clinch victory in style. A nervy, error-filled match saw Cilic record 50 winners and 59 unforced errors while Mayer finished with 27 winners against 60 mistakes.
Philipp Kohlschreiber d. Ivan Dodig 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4
Dodig was one point away from delivering some heroics of his own, but instead Kohlschreiber pulled out another five-set thriller an evened the tie at one apiece. The German withstood 24 Dodig aces and prevailed after four hours and 38 minutes of spirited play.
This could have easily gone Dodig's way and left Croatia in perfect position to reach the Davis Cup quarterfinals, as the world No. 57 battled back from an early deficit to take a two sets to one lead. That set the stage for a dramatic fourth, during which one break of serve each was exchanged en route to a tiebreaker. Dodig gave back a quick mini-break due to an errant forehand, but he still found himself at match point when he led 6-5. Kohlschreiber, however, took care of his serve to level at 6-6 and won the next points to force a fifth.
Although he donated his serve once in the final frame of play, the world No. 35 broke twice and eventually served out the proceedings with a clutch hold at 6-5. Kohlschreiber finished with 63 winners and 49 mistakes while Dodig notched 61 winners and 44 errors.
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