Croatia becomes first country to advance to Davis Cup semifinals

Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic (Twitter)

Croatia has become the first country to advance to the 2021 Davis Cup semifinals. On Monday, Croatia defeated Italy two matches to one from Turin, the same city that hosted the ATP Finals, which were won by Alexander Zverev of Germany, earlier this month.

The biggest story from Team Croatia in the tournament so far in the Davis Cup has been the play of Borna Gojo, the 279th ranked player in the world. The 23-year-old, is from Split, the second largest city in Croatia. A product of Wake Forest University in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, Gojo had not won a match on the ATP Tour this season, or has ever made a grand slam singles tournament in his tennis career.

However in the ATP Finals, Gojo has stepped up to the plate in a big way. He played a major role in Croatia sweeping Australia 3-0 last week, as he defeated Alexei Popyrin of Sydney in straight sets, 7-6, 7-5. Then on Monday, Gojo defeated Lorenzo Sonego 7-6, 2-6, 6-2.

This was supposed to be a slam dunk win for the Italians as Sonego is ranked 27th in the world, reached the fourth round of Wimbledon this year, and beat Laslo Dere of Serbia this past April in the final of the Sardegna Open in Italy, 2-6, 7-6, 6-4. However, it was Gojo who came away with the upset.

Then after Jannik Sinner tied the Davis Cup quarterfinal at a match apiece after a win over Marin Cilic, the Croatian Olympic gold medal winning doubles team from the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo came up huge. Nikola Metkic and Mate Pavic beat Sinner and Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-4. With the win, Croatia will play the winner of Serbia and Kazakhstan on Friday.

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