Marin Cilic clinched for Croatia their second Davis Cup title by crushing France’s Lucas Pouille 7-6(3) 6-3 6-3 to give his side a decisive 3-1 lead and the trophy.
At Lille’s Stade Pierre Mauroy on Sunday, the powerful world number seven was relentless as he snuffed out any hope of a famous French fightback.
He gave the 24-year-old Pouille little chance of extending the last final in the 118-year-old competition’s current guise into a deciding fifth rubber.
Pouille did not have a single break point.
In spite of pushing Cilic hard in the first set, he lost the last four points of the tiebreak and never threatened a comeback.
Cilic wasted four set points when Pouille battled back from 0-40 down at 2-5 in the second set, but with his own serve rock-solid he calmly moved into a two-set lead.
The mainly French 22,000 crowd kept roaring their support for Pouille, but it was the Croatia contingent, decked out in…
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