Djokovic pulls Serbia level with Croatia in Davis Cup semis

MADRID (AP) — Novak Djokovic pulled Serbia even with Croatia at 1-1 in the Davis Cup semifinals by beating Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-2 Friday.

The top-ranked Djokovic will try to put Serbia into the final by playing in the deciding doubles. The 20-time Grand Slam champion is slated to team with Filip Krajinovic against the top-ranked doubles pair of Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic.

Djokovic evened the best-of-three series on an indoor hard court after Borna Gojo beat Dusan Lajovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the opening singles match.

Djokovic forced a break point in the first set with a winner at the net and Cilic then made his first mistake when he double-faulted to fall behind. Cilic almost hit right back, but Djokovic went up a set when he saved four break points.

Djokovic cruised through the second set, stroking winners and hitting an extraordinary defensive lob that landed in the corner and forced Cilic into swatting the ball wide.

Earlier, the 279th-ranked Gojo outplayed Lajovic after the Serb rallied from 4-1 down to take the first set. Gojo broke Lajovic’s serve five times to give his team the early advantage.

Serbia and Croatia are meeting in the Davis Cup for the third time since they became independent nations following the breakup of Yugoslavia. Serbia won the previous two.

Russia will face Germany on Saturday in the other semifinal series.

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