MADRID (Reuters) – Borna Gojo beat Dusan Lajovic 4-6 6-3 6-2 to give Croatia a 1-0 lead over rivals Serbia in their Davis Cup semi-final on Friday and put them in the driving seat to reach Sunday’s showpiece.
Serbia’s Novak Djokovic takes on Marin Cilic in the second singles and if the world number one levels the tie he is due to team up with Nikola Cacic in the doubles against the world’s top-ranked pairing of Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic.
Ranked 279th on the ATP Tour, Gojo pulled off another shock Davis Cup win as he overpowered world number 33 Lajovic after beating 27th-ranked Lorenzo Sonego in Croatia’s 2-1 win over Italy in the quarter-finals.
Lajovic seemed to have gained the upper hand when he won 17 of the last 18 points to take the opening set as he battled back from 4-2 and 40-down on Gojo’s serve, but the 23-year old Croatian was unfazed and turned the tide emphatically.
Gojo raced into a 3-0 lead in the second set and having broken serve to edge ahead 4-2 after Lajovic hit back, he levelled the scores thanks to a big serve and stinging baseline shots which kept Lajovic on the back foot.
It was one-way traffic in the third set as Gojo kept up the pressure and stormed into a 4-0 lead, sparking loud celebrations amongst the Croatian fans in Madrid as he wrapped up the contest with a service winner.
“I slipped up in the opening set after I was 4-2 and 40-0 up and got a little bit down on myself, but the team and the fans picked me up and I managed to play better in the other two sets,” Gojo said in an on-court interview.
Having also beaten Australia’s Alexei Popyrin in the group stage, Gojo added that the Davis Cup brought out the best in him against better-ranked opponents.
“The pressure in this competition is much bigger on everyone and I managed to get some big wins by playing my best tennis here, but the most important thing is that I got the points for the team.”
The Russian Tennis Federation play Germany in the other semi-final on Saturday.
(Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic; Editing by Ken Ferris)
