Story ProgressBack to home
Croatia beat Chile 3-0
Croatia will face Germany in the final of the World Team Cup after beating Chile 3-0 on Friday.
- Indo-Asian News Service
- Updated: February 25, 2007 10:34 AM IST
Read Time:2 min
Duesseldorf:
Croatia will face Germany in the final of the World Team Cup after beating Chile 3-0 on Friday. Ivan Ljubicic was stretched to the limit in the opening singles before overcoming Fernando Gonzalez 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-4. Mario Ancic then took advantage of some poor serving by Nicolas Massu to win 6-3, 6-2 and give Croatia a place in the final. This is Croatia's first final encounter since it lost the 1995 title match to Sweden. Just one break of serve was enough for Ljubicic to sneak the first set, when Gonzalez hit a forehand wide from a strong return at 6-5. Deciding set Gonzalez had several opportunities in the second set but failed to win any of five break points at 2-2. The Chilean ended the match winning none of eight break points, but he took the match to a deciding set by winning the tiebreaker 7-4. Both players competed to a high standard throughout the 2-hour, 49-minute battle, and the outcome was decided by one break of serve in the final set when Gonzalez made a forehand error at 4-4. High morale Ancic dominated Massu, winning 84 per cent of the points on his first serve. Massu managed just 43 per cent, and failed to earn any break points. One break at 3-2 helped give Ancic the first set, and another for 1-0 in the second boosted his confidence. A third break when Massu sent a crosscourt backhand wide then gave Ancic a decisive 4-1 lead. Ancic and Ivo Karlovic combined to win the doubles from Paul Capdeville and Adrian Garcia in a tiebreaker 17-15. With no chance of reaching the final, Spain beat the United States 2-1. Fernando Verdasco outlasted Bob Bryan 6-2, 3-6, 6-1, and David Ferrer then dismissed Robby Ginepri 6-3, 6-3. In the doubles, Bob and Mike Bryan were leading 4-3 for the United States when David Ferrer and Fernando Verdasco retired. (AP)Topics mentioned in this article
Tennis Croatia
Get the Latest IPL 2024 Updates, check out IPL 2024 schedules and IPL points table at NDTV Sports.Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for more sports updates. You can also download the NDTV Cricket app for Android or iOS.