The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Croatia to meet Slovakia in final

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Monday, Sep 26, 2005

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Sport - Tennis

Croatia to meet Slovakia in final

LONDON: Croatia qualified for its first Davis Cup final here on Sunday following Ivan Ljubicic's 6-3, 7-6 (6), 6-4 victory over Russia's Nikolay Davydenko in Split to earn a 3-1 winning lead.

At Bratislva, Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty beat Guillermo Coria of Argentina 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-3 to give his team an unbeatable 3-1 lead and a place in the December 2-4 final against Croatia.

Croatia's victory means there will be a new name on the Davis Cup this year as Russia was the only previous winner out of the four semifinalists.

Ljubicic was the hero for Croatia throughout, having beaten Mikhail Youzhny on Friday after Russia took the lead when Davydenko beat Mario Ancic. Ljubicic then teamed up with Ancic as Croatia won Saturday's doubles.

He came back from 3-0 and 5-3 down in the second-set tie-break to take a two-set lead and then broke Davydenko to love as he served at 4-5 in the third set to seal victory.

Slovakia takes lead

Meanwhile on Saturday, Slovakia's Karol Beck and Michal Mertinak beat David Nalbandian and Mariano Puerta 7-6(5), 7-5, 7-6(5) in Bratislava to give the team a 2-1 lead over Argentina.

In the World Group Play-offs, Switzerland swept Britain 5-0, Austria beat Ecuador 4-1, and Chile took a winning 3-0 lead over Pakistan.

The results (World Group semifinals):

At Split: Croatia 3, Russia 1 (Ivan Ljubicic bt Nikolay Davydenko 6-3, 7-6(6), 6-4; Ljubicic & Mario Ancic bt Igor Andreev & Dmitriy Tursonov 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4).

At Bratislava: Slovakia 3, Argentina 1 (Dominik Hrbaty bt Guillermo 7-6(2), 6-2, 6-3; Karol Beck & Michal Mertinak bt David Nalbandian & Mariano Puerta 7-6(5), 7-5, 7-6(5).

— Agencies

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