In the opening game of the Davis Cup finals, Borna Ćorić overcame Jeremy Chardy 3:0 in sets in just two hours and 19 minutes of play. Croatia now leads France 1:0 in Lille.
Željko Krajan’s side could not have opened the Davis Cup finals better, which is the last to be played in the current format of the competition, reports T.portal on November 23, 2018.
In the opening match of the finals, Borna Ćorić easily claimed the victory over France’s Jeremy Chardy, the 40th best tennis player in the world who was chosen by France coach Noah instead of Pouille - though he might be regretting his decision now.
Ćorić dominated Chardy from the beginning of the game, and in all segments of the game, and the 31-year-old Frenchman struggled with the power behind Borna’s serves.
Already at the very beginning of the match, Borna showed Chardy who is boss after leading 4:0, and went on to convincingly win the first set with 6:2. The second set saw a bit more of a fight, though Chardy’s game dropped in the end, and Ćorić triumphed in the second set with 7:5.
In the decisive third set, Croatia's 22-year-old star broke Chardy at 1:1, which set the pace for the rest of the set. With 6:4, Ćorić finished the job and brought a crucial point to the Croatian team at the start of the competition.
Interestingly, Borna took a medical 'time out' at the end of the third set, though it did not affect his game.
This was the fourth match between Ćorić and Chardy and the second win for Ćorić, which now sets their ratio equal to 2:2.
In the second match on Friday, Marin Čilić will play against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to hopefully secure Croatia's second point of the tournament.
Davis Cup finals:
Chardy – Ćorić 2:6, 5:7, 4:6
France - Croatia 0:1
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