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3/6/11 12:02 AM | Ricky Dimon
After a trio of five-setters, Germany is one win away from winning its first-round Davis Cup tie against Croatia. Marin Cilic, though, will be looking to deny Philipp Kohlschriber in Sunday's opener.
Davis Cup has always been about drama, and that has been exactly the case in the first-round tie between Germany and Croatia.
On Friday, Marin Cilic outlasted Florian Mayer in five sets to put the host Croats on the scoreboard, but Philipp Kohlschreiber saved a match point before beating Ivan Dodig 6-4 in the fifth to even the tie at 1-1. That set the stage for a critical doubles rubber, which also went five. Germany's Philipp Petzschner and Christopher Kas defeated Dodig and Ivo Karlovic to give the visitors their current 2-1 lead.
Now Kohlschreiber has a chance to clinch it when he goes up against Cilic for the seventh time in his career. Kohlschreiber leads the head-to-head series 4-2, including 3-1 on hard courts. They most recently faced each other last year in Metz, where the German dominated a quarterfinal encounter 6-4, 6-1.
Cilic, however, is in fine form this season. The world No. 20 is 11-5 and he finished runner-up in Marseille in addition to a fourth-round showing at the Australian Open. Kohlschreiber is a mediocre 7-5 for his 2011 campaign, but--like Cilic--he should have a ton of momentum after his five-set heroics on Friday.
This looks like a toss-up, but home-court advantage and a rowdy Croatian crowd should tip the scales in Cilic's favor. If Cilic does prevail, the tie will all come down to Mayer and Dodig. Don't be surprised if we see another duo of five-setters.
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