Borna Coric on Friday pulled off a through-the-legs lob shot winner that had the crowd bowing in admiration during the Davis Cup semi-finals.
Early in the third set of a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 victory over Steve Johnson, Coric ran down a lob and replied with a shot known as a “tweener” that flew over the head of his 1.88m opponent and landed within inches of the baseline.
Later, sixth-ranked Marin Cilic gave Croatia a 2-0 lead over the US with a 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) victory over Davis Cup debutant Frances Tiafoe.
Photo: AP
Carlos Ramos, the chair umpire who penalized Serena Williams in the US Open final, officiated the second match without incident.
The 21-year-old Coric, considered one of the top up-and-coming players in the game, said he had never before even come close to landing such a difficult shot.
“I normally go somehow around my back, but I just felt that I can do it,” he said. “It was not such an important point, so I just did it. Honestly, I never do it in practice as well, so I don’t know how it was that good, to be honest. It was really luck.”
US captain Jim Courier, a four-time Grand Slam winner, was impressed.
“It was special. That was a great shot. That one will be on a highlight reel for a while,” Courier said. “Of course he lost the next point, and it counted the same, so I always remind myself that though they look good, they only count the same as the next point coming.”
Cilic breezed through the first set in 26 minutes, but Tiafoe pushed the 2014 US Open winner over the second half of the match.
“In the third set he showed that he’s capable of playing great tennis. He was serving really good and also hitting well from the back,” Cilic said. “I was definitely a little bit lucky toward the end of that tiebreak to win it.”
With his 37th Davis Cup victory, Cilic moved atop Croatia’s all-time list, one ahead of Ivan Ljubicic.
“In these later stages of my career I enjoy it so much to play Davis Cup,” Cilic said.
The winner on an outdoor clay court along the Dalmatian coast will meet either France or Spain in the final.
Also on Friday, Benoit Paire overcame nerves to win on his Davis Cup debut and Lucas Pouille won a five-set battle as the pair gave defending champion France a 2-0 lead over Spain in the semi-finals.
Paire beat Pablo Carreno Busta 7-5, 6-1, 6-0 on the indoor hard court at Stade Pierre Mauroy before French No. 1 Pouille defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
“It’s well deserved,” France captain Yannick Noah said. “Benoit wore out Carreno Busta then we saw a crazy match, with a lot of unexpected developments, Lucas was fantastic.”
Spain is without top-ranked Rafael Nadal, who was ruled out because of a right knee injury that forced him to retire from his US Open semi-final last week.
Pouille and Bautista Agut fought for 3 hours, 41 minutes in Lille. The Frenchman was erratic at times and sharp at the end. He had 52 winners and 87 unforced errors, but played the more aggressive tennis in the decider, serving extremely well on important points.
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