MONITORING DESK
\nLILLE
\nMarin Cilic heads into this weekend\u2019s Davis Cup final against reigning champions France in Lille bidding to put his woes against Argentina two years ago to bed by leading Croatia to victory.
\nThe former US Open champion led Juan Martin del Potro by two sets in the 2016 final in Zagreb with the hosts only needing one more win for the title, but slipped to an agonising defeat as Argentina roared back to lift the trophy.
\nBut now he has the chance to claim a first Davis Cup in the final year before the controversial new format is implemented by the ITF. Croatia will be slight favourites despite having to face France on clay at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, with world number 12 Borna Coric supporting the seventh-ranked Cilic.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo years ago, we were in the lead on the last day and very close to winning it,\u201d remembered Cilic. \u201cWe have a new opportunity. It\u2019s a big challenge and a great motivation.\u201d<\/p>\n
France\u2019s leading man is Lucas Pouille, who has slipped out of the top 10 to 32nd in the rankings this year, while Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is struggling to regain full fitness after several spells off the court through injury.<\/p>\n
But Cilic, who also reached the 2017 Wimbledon final and the Australian Open final earlier this year, is wary of a France team that ended a 16-year wait for their 10th Davis Cup crown by beating Belgium 12 months ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to say that Croatia are favourites, France are playing at home, in front of their home fans. They have a strong doubles team \u2014 it\u2019s an open match.\u201d he insisted.<\/p>\n
One of the keys to the tie will be whether the big-hitting Cilic and Coric can adapt to playing on clay after a long hardcourt season.<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old Cilic has won only two of his 18 ATP titles on the red dirt, although has improved and reached the French Open quarter-finals in each of the last two years.<\/p>\n
But he is confident that he will be ready and will not be fatigued after last week\u2019s exit from the ATP Finals in London at the round-robin stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think that it\u2019s a big problem,\u201d Cilic added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have four, five days to prepare. It\u2019s not ideal, we would love to have two or three weeks, but I think it will be enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
France captain Yannick Noah has a serious selection headache ahead of Thursday\u2019s draw.<\/p>\n
The doubles pairing is not an issue, with Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut set to reprise the partnership which took them to the final of the season-ending Finals at the O2 Arena.<\/p>\n
But although Pouille is likely to get a singles slot alongside Tsonga or Benoit Paire, the top three Frenchmen in the ATP rankings \u2014 Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils and Gilles Simon \u2014 are not part of the squad.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s true that it\u2019s not an easy selection,\u201d admitted assistant captain and two-time Grand Slam finalist Cedric Pioline. \u201cJust because a player misses out on Friday, it doesn\u2019t mean he won\u2019t be playing on Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MONITORING DESK LILLE Marin Cilic heads into this weekend\u2019s Davis Cup final against reigning champions France in Lille bidding to put his woes against Argentina two years ago to bed by leading Croatia to victory. The former US Open champion led Juan Martin del Potro by two sets in the 2016 final in Zagreb with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-36840","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n