By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, November 23, 2018
Croatia's Borna Coric swept Jeremy Chardy in the opening match of the Davis Cup final on the red clay of Lille, France.
Photo credit: Davis Cup Facebook
First impressions can make a lasting impact in the hotly-pressurized cauldron of a Davis Cup final.
In an 11-minute opening game, an unrelenting Borna Coric broke Jeremy Chardy's serve.
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Coric spent the rest of the day deconstructing the Frenchman's game.
A commanding Coric crushed Chardy, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 staking visiting Croatia to a 1-0 lead over defending-champion France in the best-of-five-match Davis Cup final on the red clay of Lille.
"I think it was a great match from beginning to the end," Coric said. "I was playing very aggressive. I was playing very calm. I didn't lose my nerve at the end of the second set... I stayed calm there and that was the key to the match, I think."
It was Coric's fifth win in six Davis Cup matches this season as he raised his record to 10-7 in the international team competition.
World No. 7 Marin Cilic plays Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who has been battling a strained shoulder, in today's second singles match as Croatia aims for a commanding 2-0 lead in its quest for a second Davis Cup championship.
The 22-year-old Coric was a convincing closer fighting off Frances Tiafoe to clinch Croatia's 3-2 conquest of the United States in September's semifinals.
Today, Coric was a spirited starter.
Setting the tone at the start by battling for every ball, Coric played a clean and complete match.
Serving with sting and accuracy, Coric served 76 percent, won 80 percent of his first-serve points, denied both break points he faced, did not double fault and nearly tripled Chardy's winner output (23 to 8) in a commanding two hour, 19-minute victory.
"I think I was serving very well in the important points," Coric said. "That was the key for sure."
The only real drama came three games before the finish line.
Holding a two-set, 4-3 lead, Coric left the court for a medical timeout and treatment of an apparent thigh issue.
Returning to court at the two hour, nine-minute mark, Coric stamped a love hold. Afterward, Coric said the issue will not impact his status for Sunday's reverse singles.
In his final tie as French captain, Yannick Noah gambled inserting the 40th-ranked Chardy, who went 4-4 on clay this season, into the starting line-up ahead of No. 32 Lucas Pouille, who swept Steve Darcis clinching the Cup for France in Lille last November.
The 31-year-old Chardy had won two of three meetings with the Croatian, including a 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-3, triumph in their most recent meeting on the red clay of Monte-Carlo last year.
This was a far more confident Coric, who worked the width of the court with sharp angles to create openings and battered Chardy's weaker backhand wing until it broke down or gave up the mid-court ball.
Coughing up his second double fault to face a second break point, Chardy charged forward thumping a smash to erase it.
Coric kept coming.
When Chardy jabbed a slice backhand into net, the Croatian gained a third break point.
Staying close to the baseline, Coric rallied from 40-love down in a grueling 11-minute opening game, breaking when Chardy flattened a forehand into net. Coric consolidated at love.
Coric, who has risen from a season-starting rank of No. 48 to his current rank of No. 12, was the calmer competitor standing toe-to-toe with Chardy on the baseline.
The Frenchman sprayed another double fault to face triple break point then flew a forehand as Coric cruised to a double-break lead.
The man who stunned Roger Federer to win Halle on grass showed net skills ladling a soft forehand drop volley to seal a love hold. Coric surged through 14 straight points stretching his lead to 4-0.
Twenty-three minutes into the match, Chardy hammered a forehand to finally get on the board.
Stepping in and slashing a backhand off the sideline, Coric earned double set point in style.
The 22-year-old Croatian closed the 36-minute opening set with a slider serve down the middle. Coric served 80 percent, permitted just three points on his first serve and did not drop a point on second serve in the opening set.
Churning through a seven-minute hold, Chardy denied a pair of break points holding for 2-1 in the second set.
Serving with more authority and targeting the Croatian's forehand wing, Chardy streamed through a love hold for 5-4. By then, he saved all five break points he faced in the set.
An unrelenting Coric lashed a forehand off the sideline to start the 11th game. A shrewd defensive lob spun a retreating Chardy completely around near the baseline. That lob bamboozled the Frenchman into a netted backhand earning Coric triple break point.
Ripping a forehand return, Coric pounded his clenched fist over his heart banging out the crucial break for 6-5.
Slicing successive aces out wide, Coric cranked a pair of unreturnable serves serving out a two-set lead at love after 93 minutes of play.
A disconsolate Chardy spit up his fifth double fault of the third game to face triple break point.
Spreading the court cleanly, Coric shrewdly hit behind the Frenchman securing his fourth break of the day for a 2-1 third-set lead.
Aside from the brief medical timeout, Coric never looked back capping a comprehensive victory without surrendering serve.