FRANCE 1, CROATIA 2
Lille, France (Indoor Clay)

Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut earned France its first point of the Davis Cup final on Saturday, beating Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(3).

The Frenchmen, who reached the championship match at the Nitto ATP Finals last week, improved to 6-1 as a team in Davis Cup after three hours and 38 minutes, firing 41 forehand winners and saving seven of nine break points en route to victory. With an 11th Davis Cup title in its sights, France is aiming to become only the second team ever to recover from a 0-2 deficit in a Davis Cup final, following Marin Cilic and Borna Coric’s straight-set triumphs for Croatia on Friday. In 1939, Australia became the first nation to achieve the feat, recovering from 0-2 down to defeat the United States.

Herbert and Mahut, who own 12 tour-level doubles trophies as a team, once again showed their best form this season in front of a home crowd on clay. In June, Herbert and Mahut became just the third all-French team in the Open Era to clinch the Roland Garros doubles title, beating Oliver Marach and Pavic in straight sets.

Croatia and France are meeting for the third time in Davis Cup, with both nations triumphing on home soil in previous encounters. France is aiming to become the first nation to successfully defend the Davis Cup title since the Czech Republic lifted back-to-back trophies in 2012 and 2013. Croatia is appearing in its second final in three years after falling to a 3-2 defeat against Argentina in 2016.

In Sunday’s first reverse singles rubber, Marin Cilic will have the chance to earn Croatia its second Davis Cup crown when he faces Jeremy Chardy. The World No. 7 leads Chardy 3-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, but the pair are tied at 1-1 in clay meetings. If Chardy manages to earn his third victory over Cilic, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Borna Coric will contest a live fifth rubber for the trophy.

FRANCE 0, CROATIA 1
Lille, France (Clay Indoor)

Seeking just its second crown, Croatia made a flying start against France in the Davis Cup final at the Stade Pierre Mauroy on Friday.

Currently ranked No. 12 in the ATP Rankings, Borna Coric needed just two hours and 19 minutes to overcome Jeremy Chardy 6-2, 7-5, 6-4. The Rolex Shanghai Masters finalist won 80 per cent of first-serve points and saved both break points he faced against the 31-year-old to earn the first point of the final.

Coric, who now owns 40 victories from 60 tour-level encounters this season, levels his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Chardy at 2-2. Croatian No. 1 Marin Cilic will now attempt to double the visiting nation’s advantage in the second rubber. The World No. 7 will meet Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in their eighth FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting, with Cilic leading their series 5-2.

Croatia and France are meeting for the third time in Davis Cup, with both nations triumphing on home soil in previous encounters. France is aiming to become the first nation to defend the Davis Cup title since the Czech Republic lifted back-to-back trophies in 2012 and 2013. Croatia is appearing in its second final in three years after falling to a 3-2 defeat against Argentina in 2016.

France will look to retain the Davis Cup title this weekend as Yannick Noah’s team takes on Croatia. If France lifts the trophy for the 11th time, the nation will become the sixth to retain the championship since the Challenge Round was eliminated in 1972. The last instance was in 2012-13, when the Czech Republic triumphed twice in a row.

It will be a tough task for the defending champions as Croatia is led by three players who were at The O2 for the prestigious Nitto ATP Finals. Marin Cilic competed at the season finale for the fourth time, Borna Coric was in London as an alternate and Mate Pavic was half of the top-seeded doubles team.

Cilic, who will play Friday’s second singles match against former World No. 5 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille, France, feels that his effort last week have helped prepare him for the challenge ahead.

“Just playing against top guys just maybe lifts your level a bit, focus-wise,” said Cilic, who leads Tsonga 5-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, in London. “Playing-wise, you have to play every single point on a high level. I feel that might help me.”

In Friday’s first match, Frenchman Jeremy Chardy will face Coric, who has enjoyed the best season of his career. Coric, who won the Gerry Weber Open in Halle, is fresh off his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final at the Rolex Shanghai Masters. Chardy, the No. 40 player in the ATP Rankings, leads their series 3-2. The top-ranked Frenchman on the team in Lille, Lucas Pouille, was not chosen to compete on Friday.

France has plenty of doubles firepower with Nitto ATP Finals runners-up Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, who will clash against Pavic and Ivan Dodig on Saturday. Herbert and Mahut captured this year’s Roland Garros title and they were also victorious in Rotterdam. 

The home favourites will try to win their eighth tie in a row, which would match its second-longest winning streak. Croatia is attempting to win its second Davis Cup title in its third final. Two years ago, Croatia fell just short against Argentina when Juan Martin del Potro came from two sets to one down against Cilic to win the fourth rubber, allowing Federico Delbonis to defeat Ivo Karlovic in a live fifth rubber.

“We are expecting a great atmosphere obviously in Lille. It’s going to be great. [The] French team always plays great at home. They’re known for having great results in France, so it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be great to play, great excitement for both teams,” Cilic said at The O2. “We had a great season as a team. The French team also, Herbert-Mahut are playing great… They’re going to be the rock of the team in doubles. For us, we have to play well, step it up, try to obviously give our best to win.”

Reverse singles ties will be played on Sunday.

The 2018 Nitto ATP Finals at The O2 in London brought a close to another spectacular season on the ATP World Tour, as 21-year-old Alexander Zverev defeated World No. 1 Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 to capture the biggest title of his career to date. Americans Mike Bryan and Jack Sock clinched a thrilling doubles final, saving one championship point on route to a 5-7, 6-1, 13-11 (Match Tie-Break) win over the French pairing of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.

By winning the prestigious title, Zverev became the youngest winner of the season-ending tournament since Djokovic in 2008 (Shanghai), and the first German to win the title since Boris Becker in 1995 (Frankfurt). The German, who won four out of his five matches across the eight days, collected a total of $2,509,000 in prize money and 1,300 ATP Rankings points to finish the season at No. 4 in the ATP Rankings, behind Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

The 2018 season-ending tournament attracted 243,819 spectators across the eight days of competition, bringing the tournament’s cumulative attendance since 2009 to 2,561,084 across 150 sessions. This year’s attendance at The O2 brings the total attendance across the ATP World Tour’s 64 tournaments in 2018 to 4.57 million fans, the second highest number in the Tour’s history, behind 2017. The 2018 Nitto ATP Finals also attracted record audiences online, with more than 200 million impressions on ATP’s digital platforms.

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman & President, said: “This year’s Nitto ATP Finals will be remembered for the moment that Alexander Zverev truly arrived and delivered on one of the biggest stages in tennis, in the final match of the ATP World Tour season. At just 21 years of age, he is leading the charge and to follow his career in years to come will be fascinating for tennis fans across the world. Full credit as well to Novak for his incredible comeback this season, which saw him finish as year-end No. 1 in the ATP Rankings for a fifth time. And, finally, on behalf of the ATP, we would like to thank the fans that came out to support and who continue to play such a big part in making our season-ending event so successful in London.”

The Nitto ATP 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 though 2020.

BY THE NUMBERS:
• 202,577,553 – number of impressions across on ATP digital platforms (ATPWorldTour.com, NittoATPFinals.com, live scoring apps, and social media platforms, and Tennis TV) throughout the event.
• 36,678,342 – number of video plays on ATP digital media platforms, including ATPWorldTour.com, NittoATPFinals.com, ATP & Tennis TV social media platforms.
• 5,069,586 – number or interactions (likes, comments, retweets, replies etc.) on ATP and Tennis TV social media platforms throughout the event
• 8,500,000 – amount of prize money (US$) on offer at the 2018 season finale.
• 4,571,625 – number of fans that attended the 64 tournaments on the ATP World Tour in 2018, the second highest on record, behind 2017.
• 2,561,084 – cumulative attendance at the season-ending tournament across 150 sessions since it moved to London in 2009
• 2,509,000 – amount of prize money (US$) that Alexander Zverev won by capturing the title.
• 890,000 – number of streams on Tennis TV the ATP’s official live streaming service, with each viewer watching an average of 178 minutes per day.
• 358,472 – number of people to pass through The O2 site in 2018, including the restaurants, bars and shops, during the eight days of the tournament.
• 243, 819 – attendance inside The O2 arena across the eight days.
• 28,700 – amount of money (GBP) donated by ATP to help Unicef protect children in danger around the world (£100 per ace – 287 aces in total).
• 20,000 – number of re-usable plastic cups used by fans as part of ATP’s sustainability initiatives throughout the tournament.
• 110 – the largest number decibels measured inside The O2 arena through the Infosys ATP Fan Meter, on the opening evening’s match between Federer and Kei Nishikori.
• 36 – the number of different countries to have media accreditation at the event.