Marin Cilic sealed Croatia’s spot in the semi-finals at the Davis Cup Finals Wednesday when he clawed past Pablo Carreno Busta 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(5) to move the former champion into an unassailable 2-0 lead against Spain.

In a thrilling match in Malaga, the 34-year-old produced an impressive serving performance. He fired 20 aces and won 83 per cent (50/60) of his first-serve points to seal his victory after three hours and 16 minutes.

In the first match of the tie, Borna Coric overcame Roberto Bautista Agut 6-4, 7-6(4) to give Croatia the lead. The World No. 26 struck 27 winners and saved the one break point he faced to triumph after one hour and 58 minutes.

“I was serving very, very well,” Coric said according to daviscup.com. “I didn’t serve this well since probably Cincinnati. So obviously it’s much easier to play like that. I can relax more on the service games when he’s serving, because I know most likely I will hold my serve. So that’s made a difference.

“I just think in general I was playing very smart. When I needed to attack, I did attack. When I needed to make a defence, I was defensive. I also mixed up the rhythm, as well, which is very important against him. I was just very pleased with my game, to be honest.”

Croatia last lifted the Davis Cup Finals trophy in 2018. The nation will play Australia in the semi-finals on Friday.

What is the format for the 2022 Davis Cup Finals?
The group stage of the 2022 Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals took place across four cities — Bologna, Glasgow, Hamburg and Valencia — from 13-18 September. Sixteen nations competed in four round-robin groups of four teams. The top two teams in each group advanced to the knock-out stage. The knock-out stage is taking place in Malaga this week, with the final on Sunday.

The 18 countries are now confirmed for the first edition of the United Cup, a new annual mixed teams event taking place across Brisbane, Perth and Sydney from Thursday 29 December to Sunday 8 January 2023.

Bulgaria will join Greece and Belgium in Group A in Perth. Kazakhstan will join Poland and Switzerland in Group B in Brisbane.

A blockbuster opening session in Perth will feature world No.4 Stefanos Tsitsipas of top seeded country Greece, up against former world No.3 Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria on Thursday 29 December at RAC Arena.

On day one in Brisbane, Tokyo Olympic gold medallist and recently crowned Billie Jean King Cup winner Belinda Bencic of Switzerland will meet Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva at Pat Rafter Arena.

The United Cup, an ATP-WTA event presented in partnership with Tennis Australia, offers USD $15 million in prize money and up to 500 Pepperstone ATP and 500 WTA rankings points.

Brisbane, Perth and Sydney will host the group stage from Thursday 29 December to Wednesday 4 January 2023.

Each host city will feature two groups of three countries, competing in a round-robin format.

Each tie will comprise two men’s and two women’s singles matches and one mixed doubles match to be played across two days.

Group winners in each city will play off for one of three semifinal spots.

Three City Champions will advance to the United Cup Final Four in Sydney to be played at Ken Rosewall Arena from Friday 6 to Sunday 8 January. The next best performing team from the group stage will complete the quartet.

Group stage tickets for adults will start from $40 and from $20 for children 14 years and under. Family passes (two adults and two children) will start from $100.

Visit Official Tournament Website