Argentina won its first Davis Cup title on Sunday when Federico Delbonis swept past Ivo Karlovic in straight sets to complete a stunning 3-2 comeback win over Croatia.
Delbonis dropped to the ground after his 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory. His teammates fell into each other's arms and celebrated in front of thousands of Argentine fans in the packed Arena Zagreb.
Players danced around the huge Davis Cup trophy and fans, including soccer great Diego Maradona, chanted and waved Argentinian flags. This was the first Davis Cup title for Argentina in the fifth final it has played since 1981. Croatia won in 2005. Going into the reverse singles Sunday, the Croats were leading 2-1 in the best-of-five-series after winning the doubles on Saturday. Juan Martin Del Potro then rallied from two sets down to beat Marin Cilic 6-7 (4), 2-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 as Argentina drew level at 2-2.
With the victory, Argentina became only the third team to come back from 2-1 down in the final since the World Group Davis Cup format was introduced in 1981. Delbonis went up a break in the first two sets and added two more in the third when Karlovic sent a forehand wide for the victory. Karlovic, who returned to the Croatian team after a four-year absence, said he was "hugely disappointed." Meanwhile, the match at Arena Zagreb that lasted nearly five hours saw plenty of drama created by two players.
Cilic had a furious start to race to a 3-0 lead including a break in Del Potro's first service game. The Croat capitalized on the first of three break points with a cracking forehand winner. Del Potro fought back in the seventh game with Cilic under pressure at deuce. Two ground strokes, first a forehand long then a looping backhand, saw Del Potro break at the sixth attempt. He broke Cilic in the 12th and 10th games in the third and fourth sets respectively to send the match into the decider.
Trailing 15-40 in the eighth game of the final set, Cilic sent a forehand beyond the baseline to give Del Potro the decisive break. He served out the match to keep Argentina alive.