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| Both players pose for a picture during the draw ceremony. Photo by La Nacion |
1st Set: Del Potro makes perfect start
Del Potro
made the perfect start to the match, breaking Karlovic’s serve immediately in
the first game with some great returns. Both players had no more break points
for the rest of the set, and therefore Del Potro won the set 6-4. This first
set saw both players winning most of their first service points, with Karlovic
winning 100% of them and Del Potro winning 94% of them. The first game in which
Del Potro broke saw Karlovic only hitting 20% of first serves in, which Del
Potro took advantage on.
2nd Set: Karlovic fights back; saves set points
The 2nd
set was much closer, and Del Potro once again had the chance to break Karlovic’s
serve in the first game of the set. However, this time, Karlovic managed to
fend off those break point opportunities. Once again, after the first game of
the set, there were no more break point opportunities for both players. The set
then went to a tiebreak, and Karlovic came from 5-2 down to win the second set
and keep the score level at one set all, after saving 2 set points in the
process. Karlovic’s first serve percentage increased drastically from 54% to
71%, and he won 90% of first serve points and only lost 2 points off his second
serves. Del Potro won 86% of first serve points and also lost only 2 points off
his second serves.
3rd Set: Del Potro continues to stroll
The third
set started off with 7 straight holds of service, until Del Potro once again
drew first blood by breaking Karlovic’s serve to lead 5-3, and just be a game
away from winning the set. The Argentinian then successfully served out the set
6-3, and put himself in a great position to level the tie for Argentina. The 4
service points that Karlovic lost in the whole set was in the game that he was
broken, and he held his serve to love in all of his other service games.
4th Set: Del Potro closes out the match
Both
players held their serves for consecutive times at the start of the 4th
set, but Karlovic had some troubles holding his serve with Del Potro producing
very good returns. It was until 5-5 when we had the first break of serve, after
Del Potro hit an excellent return winner of a 208km/h serve by Karlovic to have
the opportunity to serve for the set and the match.
Del Potro's thoughts on the match:
Karlovic's thoughts after his loss:
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| Del Potro serving in the Davis Cup final. Photo by Reuters |
Del Potro's thoughts on the match:
“I think Ivo played very good tennis in those moments and of course I was nervous after I lost the second set but in the end I had to take the longer road to victory. The atmosphere was fantastic, our fans were great but Croatian fans were brilliant too and showed us a lot of respect. It was an exhausting match but I think I will be okay for the rest of the weekend.” (Adapted from official Davis Cup website)
Karlovic's thoughts after his loss:
“I am not overly exhausted because there weren’t too many long rallies. I don’t think I was on top of my game and with a rest day for me tomorrow, I am ready to play the decisive fifth rubber if necessary." (Adapted from official Davis Cup website)
Highlights from YouTube: