Davis Cup 2022: Borna Coric, Marin Cilic win singles matches as Croatia beat Spain to make semi-finals
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Updated 23/11/2022 at 21:03 GMT
Borna Coric and Marin Cilic won their singles matches as Croatia were 2-0 winners against Spain in their quarter-final at the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga. Coric beat Roberto Bautista Agut in straight sets and Cilic rallied to overcome Pablo Carreno Busta. Croatia will next face Netherlands while Thursday sees Italy meet United States and Germany take on Canada in the quarter-finals.
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Croatia beat hosts Spain to reach the semi-finals of the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga.
Borna Coric and Marin Cilic both won their singles matches to secure victory for the two-time champions.
Croatia will play Australia on Friday for a place in the final. The other quarter-finals take place on Thursday as Italy face United States and Germany take on Canada.
Coric and Cilic led Croatia to victory in 2018 and they look as though they are going to be an imposing singles combination again.
Coric gave Croatia the perfect start when he beat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4 7-6(4).
Coric has had a strong comeback season after a lengthy spell out with injury, rising from world No. 275 to inside the top 30 again.
He made a strong start against Bautista Agut as he broke for a 4-3 lead.
Bautista Agut had a chance to hit back when Coric served for the set, but the Croatian held firm with a smash.
An ace sealed the first set for Coric and another one won the match after he had opened up a 4-1 lead in the second set tie-break.
Cilic overcame an error-strewn display that included 15 double faults to beat Pablo Carreno Busta 5-7 6-3 7-6(5) in a thrilling match.
Cilic struggled in the first set, finishing with 22 unforced errors compared to two from the Spaniard.
Carreno Busta won the last three games of the set to take the lead.
But 2014 US Open champion Cilic improved in the second set and after failing to convert break points in the second and fourth games, took his chance in the sixth game.
Cilic got two more breaks in the third set, either side of losing serve himself, but with victory in sight was broken again by an inspired Carreno Busta.
Cilic looked to be rocking as his double-fault count stacked up and the crowd urged on Carreno Busta.
However, Cilic dug out two holds and then won four of the first five points in the tie-break before sealing a tense victory.
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