A clash of former US Open champions—Marin Cilic vs. Juan Martin del Potro—could ignite this month's Davis Cup final.
Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, leads a Croatian team that includes big-serving Ivo Karlovic, 2015 Roland Garros doubles champion Ivan Dodig and Borna Coric.
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Croatia will host Argentina in the final set for November 25-27th on an indoor hard court of Arena Zagreb. Croatian captain Zeljko Krajan waited until today's deadline to finalize his roster.
The 20-year-old Coric, who clinched Croatia's first-round and quarterfinal victories, underwent what was called "season-ending" right knee surgery on September 27th and his participation is questionable.
The 37-year-old Karlovic rejoins the team for the first time since the 2012 quarterfinals when Argentina conquered Croatia, 4-1. Del Potro defeated Karlovic in straight sets and David Nalbandian and Eduardo Schwank scored an epic five-set win over Cilic and Karlovic in doubles in that tie.
The home side is playing for its first Davis Cup since 2005 when the two-man team of Ivan Ljubicic and Mario Ancic made Davis Cup history for Croatia.
Argentine captain Daniel Orsanic had already announced his lineup of 2009 US Open champion del Potro, Federico Delbonis, Guido Pella and Leonardo Mayer. Argentina is aiming for its first Davis Cup championship in history.
The 38th-ranked Del Potro has won eight of 10 meetings with Croatian No. 1 Cilic, including their last five clashes, however they have not faced off in three years.
The 48th-ranked Coric retired from his Cincinnati quarterfinal against Cilic with a knee injury in August. He was limited to two matches since and has not played since a straight-sets loss to Richard Gasquet in the Davis Cup semifinals two months ago.
Both Cilic and Dodig are playing this week's ATP World Tour Finals in London.
The seventh-seeded Cilic lost to world No. 1 Andy Murray in straight sets yesterday. Dodig and partner Marcelo Melo are seeded sixth in the doubles draw.
Photo credit: Davis Cup Facebook