Davis Cup Final - Argentina x Croatia

[isabelle]

Maradonna is in Zagreb to support the team but Fat Dave's not there

 

[mrzz]

Both JMdP and Cilic on court...

 

[kskate2]

Very close match. 5-5 in the first set

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Croats have the first two sets in bag and leads 5-2 in the third.

It is now almost impossible for Argentina to win this match and also the tie.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Delpo does it. Pulls off a miracle by coming back from 0-2 behind in sets to win the reverse singles against Cilic. Now, it is tied at 2-2. It is all up to mighty Delbonis to bring down Dr. EVil in the tie-clinching clash. Stranger things have happened in DC. So, let us root for Delbonis.

That would be a great combo of Del Bo and Del Po winning the DC for the Argies.

 

[Puppet Master]

DelPo was fantastic in the last 3 sets. This win only solidifies my belief that he will finish 2017 in the top 10. He is a flat out better player than most guys in the top 20 anyway. It's only a matter of time. IF he remains injury free, the sky is the limit. I love watching him, and always loved his game and he is a huge fighter as well. He is always there on the court, no matter the result.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Delbonis with a break, about to clinch the first set.

 

[kskate2]

Delbo up 2 sets to none

 

[mrzz]

I am so glad to be proven completely wrong, as I was pretty sure neither Delbonis or Pella could take down Karlovic. Great win by del Potro to get to the decider.

I still think it was a mistake to put del Potro on the doubles, though.

Answering to Puppet Master, not only I agree to your assessment but I would go much farther. IF he stays injury free he is a threat to anyone, as he has already proven countless times. In that case (injury free) I would say at least top 5 at the end of the year.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Congrats to Argentina on a thrilling victory. :clap I for sure am against any format changes to DC. DC has its own charm as it is. I don't even like the neutral venue stuff that is going to be in place from next year.

Generally speaking, players get a DC bump the year following their victory in DC (see Novak, Andy etc for example). Hopefully, JMDP gets a DC bump next year (in addition to his raw talent).

 

[mrzz]

Congrats to Argentina on a thrilling victory. :clap I for sure am against any format changes to DC. DC has its own charm as it is. I don't even like the neutral venue stuff that is going to be in place from next year.

Generally speaking, players get a DC bump the year following their victory in DC (see Novak, Andy etc for example). Hopefully, JMDP gets a DC bump next year (in addition to his raw talent).

Don´t forget Berdych...

 

[Carol]

Very competitive final Cilic vs Delpo and very surprised that the first one lost but I can't say the same about Karlovic-Delbonis....awful game by the Croatian even with all his torpedos serves, bah!:cover :nono

 

[isabelle]

very happy for Argies, Delbonis did what Acasuso never did : win the last match
congrats to all the team, now Argentina'll welcome them in heros
Champagne !!!

 

[Shivashish Sarkar]

I am happy for Del Potro. He was laid off for quite a while owing to an injury and to come back like this trying to get better every week and to get back to his best level is admirable. Cilic was the one who played better maybe most of the match hitting aces and winners all the time. He was certainly playing his best. Del Potro won the important points in the 3rd and 4th sets who was only serving and rallying very well himself. He managed to show grit and stamina in the last set earning him the victory.

I hope both these guys can take confidence and rhythm from this to next season and play some good tennis early on. This aggressive bunch of players is what is needed to make tennis interesting. I really think Cilic can still win a major looking at the way he was delivering thunderbolts. He needs to get into the right mental frame and he can pulverize any player he is up against. Del Potro is back in rhythm. I will be disappointed if he doesn't get to the second week at Australian Open.

Davis Cup certainly should receive more admiration than it does. I find the level at Davis Cup very high and higher even than at grand slams at times. Players really give their best. It's a joy to watch for any tennis fan. Del Potro vs Cilic was one of the best best-of-five-sets match I saw this year; probably the best. I can't think of any grand slam match this year that could compete with this in terms of quality. The only shortcoming of this tournament is that the best players never really turn up in good numbers. That's the only thing that has ever held this back from being one of the best tournaments.

 

[herios]

Mighty impressive what the Argentines pulled off the last day. I would have never believed Delbonis can take down in straight sets Karlovic indoors.
It is fantastic what the team spirit can do to you.
I am very happy for them, especially JMDP who was always one my favorites.

 

[mrzz]

I agree that more top players would be good for DC. But top players are self centered (understandably), so the reward in ranking points should be much higher, if the idea was to attract them...

The only thing I don´t like about the format is that it is still possible for a "one man team" to win a tie. It is hard, but a guy on roll can do that (I remember one time the Brazilian team beat Spain with Kuerten winning all his three matches). I would very much like changes which would force teams to use more players (during a single tie, not all year), so depth would prevail over a singular talent.

 

[vjmtz]

Well done Argentinians.

 

[vjmtz]

Mighty impressive what the Argentines pulled off the last day. I would have never believed Delbonis can take down in straight sets Karlovic indoors.
It is fantastic what the team spirit can do to you.
I am very happy for them, especially JMDP who was always one my favorites.

Mine too. If Del Potro doesn't have so many problems with injuries he would be in the Big 4 instead of Murray.