Davis Cup Final: Croatia finish runners-up
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
MADRID, 5 December 2021 – Two-time champions Croatia have finished runners-up in the 2021 Davis Cup after losing the final in Madrid on Sunday.
Croatia, playing in their fourth final, lost both singles matches to go down to Russia 2-0. Russia has now won three Davis Cup titles.
In the opening match, Borna Gojo, who is ranked 279th in the world, faced world no.5 Andrey Rublev.
The 23-year-old Croatian put up a good fight and almost took the game into a third set. Rublev had to draw on all of his class to take the match 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
View this post on Instagram
It was then left up to Marin Čilić to upset world no.2 Daniil Medvedev to keep Croatia in the final.
Both players held serve throughout a tight opening set and it would have to be settled in a tiebreak which went the way of the Russian.
It was more comfortable in the second set for Medvedev who broke Čilić earlier and he would eventually take the match 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 to give Russia an unassailable 2-0 lead.
With two singles players ranked inside the top five, Russia were one of the favourites for this year’s Davis Cup.
Croatia, who have won the title twice before, on the other hand performed above their expectations. It was a great effort to reach the final, beating Australia, Hungary, Italy and Serbia on the way.
