Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic delivered on Sunday at the Davis Cup Finals to seal Croatia’s qualification from Group D in Turin.
The pair has won nine tour-level titles this season and showed their experience to move past Fabian Marozsan and Peter Nagy 7-6(6), 6-2 in one hour and 30 minutes to seal a 2-1 win for Croatia against Hungary.
“We wanted to win and give a statement and now we will go into tomorrow’s match with confidence,” Mektic said. “We won a tight first set again, but we are happy to win.”
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In the first rubber on Sunday, Croatian Nino Serdarusic moved past Marozsan 6-4, 6-4 after 72 minutes. The World No. 242 was strong on serve, winning 95 per cent (36/38) of points behind his first delivery and struck seven aces.
Hungary then levelled the tie when Zsombor Piros upset World No. 30 Marin Cilic 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 after two hours and 35 minutes. The 22-year-old broke five times and hit 26 winners to triumph.
Croatia wins the group, having also beaten Australia in Turin, and plays Italy in the quarter-finals on Monday.