[Zrinski]

Croatia wins the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas

http://www.daviscup.com/news/matchreport.asp?id=13548

Mario Ancic defeated Michal Mertinak 76(1) 63 64 after two hours 50 minutes in the decisive fifth rubber to win Croatia its first ever Davis Cup by BNP Paribas title.

For Croatia, this is an achievement that will reverberate around the young country, and rank above or at least alongside its third-place finish at the 1998 soccer World Cup.

Afterwards, as the Croatians celebrated ecstatically on court, there was no doubting what becoming the 12th champion nation of this unique event meant to them – and their countrymen, as those of whom lucky enough to be in the stadium went wild and let off flares in the stands.

Yet for the Slovak Republic too, this was still in many ways a triumphant occasion. They contributed to a magnificent sporting occasion that went right down to the wire, and like their opponents, they have put their country on the map in a way few of their compatriots have yet had the opportunity to do in the nation’s short history.

Although it would have been fitting for Ljubicic, the man who had had a hand in every point for Croatia in their 2005 Davis Cup odyssey, to have clinched the winning rubber, it was also appropriate that someone else should secure the trophy in this team competition.

Mario Ancic had not won a live singles rubber in 2005, and even though he was up against an opponent ranked far below him and used to playing mainly at Challenger level, the Davis Cup was in many ways his to lose.

Ancic held his nerve though, to complete a Croatian dream that really started to become reality at the 2004 Olympic Games, when Ancic and Ljubicic won the bronze medal by defeating Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes 76 46 16-14, in a match that ended at 1.05am.

Both Ancic and Ljubicic have talked of how that win really cemented their belief in themselves as a team, and made them aware of what they could achieve for their nation. If Athens was where the seeds of this Davis Cup dream were sown, Ljubicic cultivated them all year in ties in California, Split and Moscow, and it finally flowered here thanks to both Ljubicic and Ancic.

Ultimately, it was the result – both in the final rubber and the tie overall – that most neutral observers had anticipated, but as always in Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, it was not nearly as straightforward as that sounds.

The Davis Cup produces heroes, often unlikely ones, and there is no bigger stage in tennis than the deciding fifth rubber in the Final of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas – think Mikhail Youzhny three years ago in Paris. The flip side is that it can also set a career back, destroy it even – the man Youzhny beat from two-sets-to-love down in that Final, Paul-Henri Mathieu, has never been quite the same since.

That shouldn’t happen to Mertinak, a mainstay of the Slovak doubles team this year, who was drafted into singles action for the fifth rubber in place of Karol Kucera, with Karol Beck also unable to take part. It was always going to be a tall order for the world No. 165, up against No. 22 Ancic, but Davis Cup habitually pits players from different worlds, in tennis terms, against one another and then produces the unexpected.

This time, though, despite a nervy first set, there was to be no upset. Mertinak played well above his usual level in singles, and somehow held on to his serve throughout the first set, saving four break points including two in the fisrt game, to eventually force a tiebreak.

That was the cue for Ancic to show his class, and he went up a gear, playing aggressively and grabbing the initiative. He surged to a 6-1 lead, and took the set with a crushing 1-2 combination, a deep return setting up an easy put-away volley after one hour five minutes.

The rest of the match was by no means a procession, even if Ancic was in control for most of it. He broke in the second game of the second set, but Mertinak earned a break-back point at 1-3. Ancic saved it, then went on to seal the set with an ace, before breaking the Slovak to love at the start of the third set.

To his credit, Mertinak continued to fight bravely, and broke back for 3-all. It seemed that Ancic might be wobbling in the Davis Cup once more, but he regained his composure to break again for 5-4.

Ancic served it out confidently, and although Mertinak saved one match point, a mishit forehand on the second floated inches long. The Davis Cup by BNP Paribas belonged to Croatia.