Ivo Karlovic played one of the "biggest matches of his career" to beat James Blake as Croatia took a commanding 2-0 lead over the United States in their Davis Cup quarter-final in Porec.
Karlovic, the tallest player on the ATP Tour at nearly 7ft, rallied from two sets down to win 6-7 (5-7), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5 after 3hr 38min, giving the hosts a wonderful start.
Marin Cilic, Croatia's No 1, then made the tie 2-0 with another battling 4-6, 6-3, 6-7(3-7), 6-1, 8-6 win over Mardy Fish, who was brought into the team as cover for injured Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick.
"This is surely one of the biggest matches in my career," said Karlovic. "Playing five sets for me, being tall and heavy, is not easy. I was a bit nervous at the start, playing before the home crowd, but I became more relaxed as the match went on, and I managed to turn it around."
"My job was to win that match and I didn't do the job," said Blake, adding that Karlovic's serve "sometimes makes us look silly".
The US, 32-time Davis Cup winners, have lost both their previous encounters against Croatia and have won from 0-2 down only once, in 1934 against Austria.
In the other quarter-finals, Israel have taken a surprising 2-0 lead over Russia and last year's finalists Spain and Argentina were both tied after the opening day.
Defending champions Spain, hosting Germany in Marbella, were 1-1, while Argentina were even with the Czech Republic in Ostrava. Argentina fell behind when Tomas Berdych beat Juan Monaco in five sets, but Juan Martin Del Potro levelled the tie at 1-1 with a straight sets win over Ivo Minar.
Spain had Fernando Verdasco to thank for putting them in front against Germany, but Philipp Kohlschreiber brushed aside Tommy Robredo to make it 1-1.
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Indoor Cricket World Cup Dubai 2017
Venue Insportz, Dubai; Admission Free
Fixtures - Open Men 2pm: India v New Zealand, Malaysia v UAE, Singapore v South Africa, Sri Lanka v England; 8pm: Australia v Singapore, India v Sri Lanka, England v Malaysia, New Zealand v South Africa
Fixtures - Open Women Noon: New Zealand v England, UAE v Australia; 6pm: England v South Africa, New Zealand v Australia
The Bio
Favourite vegetable: “I really like the taste of the beetroot, the potatoes and the eggplant we are producing.”
Holiday destination: “I like Paris very much, it’s a city very close to my heart.”
Book: “Das Kapital, by Karl Marx. I am not a communist, but there are a lot of lessons for the capitalist system, if you let it get out of control, and humanity.”
Musician: “I like very much Fairuz, the Lebanese singer, and the other is Umm Kulthum. Fairuz is for listening to in the morning, Umm Kulthum for the night.”
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
