Djokovic beats Cilic in Davis Cup semi-final

Djokovic beat Marin Cilic 6-4 6-2 to level their tie after Croatia's Borna Gojo overpowered Dusan Lajovic in the opening singles on Friday.

The absorbing semi-final clash between the traditional Balkan rivals is headed for a decisive doubles, where the Serbians face a daunting task against the world number one pairing of Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic.

With Serbia redressing the balance, coach Viktor Troicki made a surprising change for the third match in the tie as Nikola Cacic, the team's only doubles specialist, made way for Filip Krajinovic to pair up with Djokovic.

Cilic's big serve kept him afloat before he double-faulted in the ninth game to hand Djokovic the initiative and the Serb then saved four break points to take the opening set.

The Croatian saved a break point in the opening game of the second but Djokovic moved up a couple of gears to brush Cilic aside for his 19th successive singles win in the competition.

Having saved all eight break points he faced in the contest, as he also rifled down four aces, Djokovic sealed the victory after Cilic sent a forehand over the baseline.

"Good evening Madrid and thank you for attending," Djokovic said in Spanish after his 18th win in 20 meetings with Cilic.

"It was always going to be a tough match against Marin, I know him very well. Winning a long first set gave me a lot of confidence for the second and now we've managed to put ourselves in the position to play the doubles.

"Playing the doubles is completely different to playing the singles. I don't play doubles much and we're up against the best doubles (team) in the world."

SOURCE: REUTERS