2. The Croatia – France tie
Zadar, Croatia will be home to the most intriguing Davis Cup tie of the weekend. Croatia nominated their almost strongest possible team for this semifinal tie, their best result since winning it all in 2005. World No. 11 Marin Cilic will lead the team, with talented Borna Coric as the second singles player. No. 8 in doubles Ivan Dodig will most probably partner with Marin Draganja for the doubles. The absences include Ivo Karlovic, who retired from Davis Cup in 2012, and Mate Pavic who won the US Open mixed doubles title. The French team is weakened by the injuries of the new World No. 8 Gael Monfils and US Open quarterfinalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Team’s No. 1 is Richard Gasquet, seconded by Lucas Pouille. For doubles, France brought the best of the best, the No. 1 doubles team Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut. The fact that Croatia will be playing in front of their home crowd and France’s decimated nomination are making the tie more equal, more competitive, and that much more exciting.
Borna Coric is going to open the tie against Richard Gasquet. It will be their first meeting, and it will be very tough to predict. Coric was having a great run in Cincinnati, winning over Paire, Kyrgios, and Nadal before reaching the quarterfinals, where he retired after dropping the first set to Cilic. Two weeks later, Coric still wasn’t fit at the US Open and retired from the match during the first set. Mystery surrounds the Croat’s fitness, but the same could be said of his opponent. Since retiring from the 4th round at Wimbledon, Gasquet has had pretty grim results. 2nd round in Cincinnati, quarterfinals in Winston-Salem and an embarrassing 2-6 2-6 3-6 loss to Kyle Edmund in the opening round of US Open, making this rubber unpredictable. Marin Cilic and Lucas Pouille will be the second match of the day. Cilic will be the favorite, since he has the advantage of the home crowd and is overall a better player, but Pouille is still carrying the momentum from his quarterfinal run at the US Open.
France is favored for the doubles tie, with Herbert and Mahut expected to beat whichever doubles variation that will be thrown at them. The projected team is Ivan Dodig and Marin Draganja, but it is possible that Marin Cilic might team up with Dodig instead, just like in the tie against USA. On Sunday, the battle of the team No. 1s will kick it off, most probably Marin Cilic against Richard Gasquet. The Frenchman does lead the head-to-head, but with Cilic winning the match that was played this year in Indian Wells. Cilic should be the favorite there. If it comes down to a live fifth rubber between Borna Coric and Lucas Pouille, the Frenchman should be the favorite. Despite the head-to-head leaning towards Coric, their only match was played before Pouille’s deep runs in Rome, Wimbledon and the US Open. It is also possible, that Coric would not play the tie due to medical issues, in which case Ivan Dodig would step in. Nowadays more of a doubles specialist, Dodig has a 6 match losing streak, winning his last match in Nottingham over Benneteau.
