DAVIS CUP FINAL, Croatia

Captain: Daniel Orsanic (Argentina)

DAY 3 (Croatia leading 2:1)

Rubber 4: Juan Martin Del Potro def. Marin Cilic 6-7(4), 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3

Rubber 5: Federico Delbonis def. Ivo Karlovic 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

Argentina won its first ever Davis Cup title (5th final) on the hearts and guts of Juan Martin Del Potro and Federico Delbonis. It was a must win situation for both Argentinian players.  If you ever doubted the power of playing for the love of your country, watch the match between Del Potro and Cilic.  He has incredible heart and he showed that today by coming back for the first time in his career from two sets down in what has the be one of the most important matches of his career.  This was his third consecutive day of play and it looked like the decision of captain Orsanic to play him in the doubles yesterday may have backfired after he started off so slowly and dropped the first two sets; however, I have watched him play for so many years and just when I think he is done, he comes back to surprise me and he did so again today. Cilic will have some sleepless nights after he crumbled mentally from a two sets lead, a tendency he seems to have developed and today he was unable to salvage the match against Del Potro.

What can I say about Delbonis’ effort against one of the greatest servers on the Tour.  He returned Karlovic’s serves as if they were those of a “club player”.  It has to be very disappointing for Karlovic who could not use his big serve to win any of his matches.   I was enthralled the entire match simply because I was stunned at how Delbonis was able to raise his level of play and stay so focused the entire match.  He never let the pressure or the weight of expectation get to him.  He saw the effort that his teammate put forth in the previous match and that inspired him to do his part and he did just that brilliantly, this match will live on in history and his memories forever.

CONGRATULATIONS to Argentina!

SOURCE OF IMAGE: Creative Commons