CROATIA 1, ARGENTINA 1
Arena Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Davis Cup Final

Croatia, the 2005 champion, is level with four-time former finalist Argentina at 1-1 on Friday in the Davis Cup final at the Arena Zagreb. Argentina has previously defeated Croatia in quarter-final ties in 2002, 2006 and 2013.

Marin Cilic handed Croatia the early lead when he used his big-match experience to beat Argentina’s Federico Delbonis 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 1-6, 6-2 in three hours and 30 minutes. Cilic, who improved to a 49-23 record on the season, won 77 per cent of his first service points and struck 17 aces. World No. 41 Delbonis, who had recovered from 0-2 sets deficit against Serbia’s Viktor Troicki in last year’s quarter-finals, hit 25 winners and is now 4-3 lifetime in singles rubbers.

“The crowd helped me to stay in there, it was not easy,” said Cilic, who is now 22-9 in singles rubbers. “Federico played a great tennis from the middle of the third set to the end of the fourth. Just at the beginning of the fifth, I tried mentally to stay in there and get that break, and it was a huge difference.” Cilic completed 2016 at a career-high year-end No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Rankings.

Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro levelled the scoreline when he defeated 37-year-old Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5 over three hours and 18 minutes in the second rubber. World No. 20 Karlovic, the oldest player to feature in a singles rubber in a final tie for 96 years (43-year-old Australian Norman Brookes in 1920), won four straight points from a 4/6 deficit in the second set tie-break. He hit 35 aces, but also 12 double faults.

Del Potro, the Comeback Player of the Year in the ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon, lost just eight of his first service points (68/76) and converted three of his seven break point opportunities. The World No. 38, now 31-12 on the season, will meet Cilic in the first reverse singles rubber on Sunday.

Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and Franko Skugor are scheduled to compete against Argentineans Leonardo Mayer and Guido Pella in the doubles rubber on Saturday.

CROATIA vs. ARGENTINA
Arena Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
DAVIS CUP FINAL

Croatia attempts to clinch its second Davis Cup trophy this week on home soil against Argentina, finalists on four previous occasions. Argentina has secured wins in 2002, 2006 and 2013 quarter-final ties.

Marin Cilic, who competed at last week’s Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and finished at a career-high year-end No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, leads the Croatian team. Ivo Karlovic, at 37 years of age, is set to become the oldest player to feature in a singles rubber in a final tie for 96 years (43-year-old Australian Norman Brookes in 1920).

Cilic takes on Argentina’s Federico Delbonis in Friday’s opening singles rubber, while Karlovic returns to the Croatian squad after a four-year absence to play Juan Martin del Potro. The draw ceremony, which was held on Thursday at the Vatroslav Lisinski concert hall, saw Croatia’s Franko Skugor and Ivan Dodig against Leonardo Mayer and Guido Pella in Saturday’s doubles rubber.

Del Potro, the Comeback Player of the Year in the ATP World Tour Awards presented by Moët & Chandon, admitted on Thursday, “I think Croatia are the favourites to win the tie. They are at home and have a very strong team, but we are looking forward to a great weekend and we are also very proud to be in another final.

Del Potro, who has a 4-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head lead against Karlovic, added, “I’ll have to be focused against Karlovic because one break of serve could cost me the match. It is great to be in the final at this point of my career after so many injuries.”

Cilic and del Potro, both former US Open champions, are set to meet each other in the first reverse singles rubber on Sunday at Arena Zagreb. “Del Potro and I have known each other for a very long time. He is a great player and a very nice person. We always get along very well on the ATP World Tour and he is a very positive character for world tennis.” Del Potro leads Cilic 8-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

“It will be nice to have [footballer Diego] Maradona here, but it makes no difference to us that he will be cheering on his compatriots,” added Cilic. “There is little or nothing between the two teams and hence our passionate fans can make all the difference.”

Team Nominations
Croatia: Marin Cilic, Ivo Karlovic, Borna Coric, Ivan Dodig; Captain: Zeljko Krajan
Argentina: Juan Martin del Potro, Federico Delbonis, Guido Pella, Leonardo Mayer; Captain: Daniel Orsanic

Davis Cup Final Schedule
Friday: Marin Cilic (CRO) vs. Federico Delbonis (ARG)
Friday: Ivo Karlovic (CRO) vs. Juan Martin del Potro (ARG)
Saturday: Ivan Dodig / Franko Skugor (CRO) vs. Leonardo Mayer / Guido Pella (ARG)
Sunday: Marin Cilic (CRO) vs. Juan Martin del Potro (ARG)
Sunday: Ivo Karlovic vs. Federico Delbonis (ARG)

The 2016 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals culminated in a historic title match between the top two ranked players in the world, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic, marking the first time in history that the year-end No.1 Emirates ATP Ranking was on the line for both finalists in the final match of the season.

The dramatic finish to the season, which saw Murray defeat Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 in front of a 17,800 capacity crowd to become only the 17th player in history to finish as year-end world No.1 (since 1973), capped off another bumper edition of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at The O2.

This year’s event attracted a total attendance of 252,481, meaning the tournament has welcomed in excess of 250,000 fans each year to The O2 arena since 2009. The 2016 edition saw the season finale attract its two millionth fan since moving to London.

The tournament, aired on 59 broadcasters in 198 territories, attracted record audiences worldwide. Global viewership on television is forecast to come in at approximately 111 million, a 14% increase on 2015. On digital, broadcast streams on Tennis TV, the ATP’s official live streaming site, hit 7.5 million, a 4.1 % increase on the previous year.  Meanwhile the ATP’s websites registered 19.8 million page impressions, a 10.7% increase from 2015.

In the UK, Murray’s dramatic semi-final win against Canadian Milos Raonic drew a peak audience on the BBC of 4.5 million, the highest viewership of any Barclays ATP World Tour Finals match on BBC since the tournament moved to London in 2009. The 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(9) encounter, in which Murray saved a match point, was also the longest best-of-three set match in the history of the tournament, at three hours and 38 minutes. The final on Sunday evening also drew a peak audience of 4.5 million on the BBC.

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, said: “It was unprecedented to have the No.1 ranking come down to the last match of the season for both players, providing a truly dramatic finish to a historic tournament. The O2 arena once again provided the perfect stage for such a thrilling finale to the 2016 ATP World Tour season.”

History was also made in the doubles event. While Henri Kontinen and John Peers captured their first season finale crown, it was Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares that snatched the year-end No.1 doubles team ranking, presented by Emirates. It marked the first time that two brothers, Andy and Jamie, were to finish atop the singles and doubles rankings respectively.

The tournament also launched a new partnership between the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals and Unicef, the world’s leading children’s organisation. This included the launch of the Super 8, in which the world’s best eight qualified tennis players came together at the season-ending finale on a mission to help Unicef raise awareness and vital funds to keep children safe. The partnership raised more than US$250,000 that will help Unicef provide life-saving food, vaccines, education and protection for children in danger around the world.

The 2016 tournament also attracted a number of celebrities to The O2 across the eight days of competition. Among those to attend were Jose Mourinho, Gerard Pique, Jude Law, Woody Harrelson, Kevin Spacey, Hugh Grant, Clive Owen, and David Beckham.

The Barclays ATP World Tour Finals has a rich history dating back to the birth of the Masters in Tokyo in 1970. The tournament will be held at The O2 in London through 2018.

BY THE NUMBERS:
•    111,000,000 – estimated global TV viewership of the 2016 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
•    82,600,000 – number of impressions from social media posts on Facebook, Twitter and MyATP now on Vixlet.
•    70,700,000 – number of impressions of #ATPFinals on Twitter.
•    39,900,000 – number of page impressions on ATP digital media platforms, including ATPWorldTour.com, BarclaysATPWorldTourFinals.com, mobile apps, and MyATP now on Vixlet.
•    7,500,000 – amount of prize money (US$) on offer at the 2016 season finale.
•    4,500,000 – peak audience on BBC1 during Andy Murray’s semi-final victory over Milos Raonic.
•    2,391,000 – amount of prize money (US$) that Andy Murray won as undefeated champion.
•    2,063,623 – cumulative attendance at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals since 2009.
•    351,984 – number of people to pass through The O2 site in 2016, including the non-ticketed Fan Zone, practice court, restaurants and bars, during the eight days of the tournament.
•    252,481 – attendance at the 2016 event.
•    250,000 – amount of money (US$) raised through the partnership between Unicef and the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, in aid of Unicef’s work to help protect children in danger around the world.
•    24 – number of consecutive matches won by World No.1 Andy Murray in finishing the season with titles in Beijing, Shanghai, Vienna, Paris, and London.
•    10 – number of nations represented in the year-end Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings, the first time this has occurred since the inception of the rankings in 1973.