MADRID – Russia’s 15-year starvation without a Davis Cup title came to an end following another fine performance under pressure from Daniil Medvedev on Sunday.
Medvedev capped his extraordinary year by defeating Marin Cilic in two sets of 7-6 (7), 6-2 to give Russia an insurmountable 2-0 lead over Croatia.
“This feeling is extraordinary,” said Medvedev. I am happier for the team than for myself. We have a great team and a great atmosphere. I’m happy to be a part of it and get the points we need. “
It was the fifth straight Davis Cup victory in two sets for Medvedev, who beat Novak Djokovic three months ago to win the US Open.
“The past two weeks have been amazing,” said Medvedev. It’s never easy to get here at the end of the season, but it has been two of the best weeks of my career. “
Earlier today, Andrey Rublev beat Borna Gojo in two sets to propel the Russians to a 1-0 lead at the Madrid arena.
Russia won the Davis Cup in 2002 and 2006. Croatia were looking to secure a third title, after triumphs in 2005 and 2018.
“I can still be proud of the effort,” said Cilic. We’re just sorry we couldn’t get a point to send our doubles players onto the field. “
Croatia had the best doubles team, but the latter could not compete against Russia.
Russia, whose squad included four top-30 players, completed the sweep of tag team events after the ladies won the Billie Jean King Cup in November. The last nation to achieve this feat was the Czech Republic in 2012.
After a tight first set, Medvedev broke his opponent’s serve twice to head for victory.
“It was a tough game,” said Medvedev. The tiebreaker is a matter of a few points. I double faulted on an end point and it was probably a big mistake, but I’m happy I played well enough to win. It’s a really tough game. “
Rublev defeated Gojo in two sets of 6-4, 7-6 (5). Gojo reached the Davis Cup final as the 279th player in the world, but had won all three of the tournament games.
