Turin, Italy (Sports Network) - Marin Cilic and Andreas Seppi were
opening singles winners, as a best-of-five first-round Davis Cup tie between
Croatia and host Italy is knotted at 1-1.
The world No. 13 Cilic came from behind to outlast Italian Paolo Lorenzi
6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, while the Day-1 nightcap saw the 18th-ranked
Seppi draw the hosts even with a 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4, 6-4 victory over Croat
Ivan Dodig. Lorenzi played in place of Fabio Fognini on Friday.
This matchup is being staged indoors on red clay at Turin's Palavela.
Saturday's doubles rubber will pit Croats Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic against
an Italian duo of Lorenzi and Simone Bolelli, while Sunday's reverse
singles call for Cilic to battle Seppi and Dodig to take on Fognini.
The Croats are captained by Zeljko Krajan, while the Italians are piloted by
Corrado Barazzutti. Croatia is 2-0 all-time versus Italy, with their last
meeting coming in Dubrovnik in 2008.
Both Croatia and Italy own one Davis Cup title apiece.
The Croatia-Italy winner will meet the Spain-Canada victor in the
quarterfinals in April.
The Sports Network