Australia swept by Croatia to begin the 2021 Davis Cup
November 26, 2021

It was a tough day for Australia to begin the 2021 Davis Cup on Thursday from Turin, Italy. The Australian squad of Alexei Popyrin, Alex de Minaur and John Peers lost all three of their matches to a Croatian squad that contained Marin Cilic, Borna Gojo, Nikola Metkic, and Mate Pavic.
Gojo, who is ranked 276th in the world and has never even entered a grand slam singles tournament, delivered a monumental upset to give Croatia a point. Popyrin is ranked 61st in the world, 215 places ahead of Gojo in the world rankings. However, it was the 23-year old from Split who came through with a straight set 7-6, 7-5 win, in a match where he won the first set tiebreak 7-5.
The momentum Gojo gave Team Croatia continued into the second match. Here, 2014 United States Open champion Cilic defeated de Minaur in three gruelling sets, 6-1, 5-7, 6-4. Croatia then swept Australia in doubles action. Metkic and  Pavic then beat de Minaur and Peers 6-3, 6-1.
Now, one must realize that Metkic and Pavic is one of the best men’s doubles teams in the world. They won the Wimbledon men’s doubles title in 2021, and also won the gold medal for Croatia at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. Â At Wimbledon, Metkic and Pavic defeated Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos 6-4, 7-6, 2-6, 7-5.
In the Olympic doubles final, Metkic and Pavic won an all-Croatian matchup, 6-4, 3-6, [10-6], in what could be considered the biggest day in Croatian tennis history. Croatia’s other two gold medals in Tokyo came in men’s pairs rowing, where Martin and Valent Sinkovic placed first, and in the women’s 67 kilogram taekwondo, where Matea Jelic won gold.
Australia’s next Davis Cup tie will be Saturday against Hungary. It will be the first tie for the Hungarians.
Fill In The Form Below To Receive Our Tennis News Straight To Your Email For FREE!
September 13, 2025
Jack Draper won't compete for rest of 2025 because of an arm injury
There is no doubt that Great Britain's Jack Draper has had an outstanding 2025 season However, it is going to end earlier for the world number seven than he anticipated On Monday of this week, it was Read MoreSeptember 13, 2025
Opinion: Lleyton Hewitt fortunate to only get two week suspension
One of the biggest stories in tennis over the last week was the fact that Australian tennis legend Lleyton Hewitt of Adelaide was allowed to captain Australia in Davis Cup action in Sydney this Read MoreSeptember 12, 2025
Tell Us What You Think Below