Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic stunned Andy Roddick 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 6-2 to give his country an unassailable 3-1 lead over the United States in their Davis Cup World Group first round tie on Sunday.
Ljubicic has almost single-handedly dismantled the U.S. squad with victory over world number three Roddick, a three-set destruction of Andre Agassi on Friday and a four-set doubles triumph against the Bryan brothers with Mario Ancic on Saturday.
Despite playing in front of a raucous partisan crowd of more than 6,500, Ljubicic matched Roddick's booming serve, dominated with his backhand and converted on the big points.
| |||||||||||
The 6ft-4ins Croat dominated the final set, immediately breaking Roddick to love and then again in the fifth game to open a 4-1 advantage when the American dumped a backhand volley into the net.
Ljubicic, who also won all three of his matches when Croatia defeated the Americans in Zagreb two years ago, sealed the match and the tie with a 119-mph ace.
The jubilant Croat raised his arms to the sky, hugged his team captain Nikki Pilic and joined his team mates in a frantic on-court celebration.
The defeat was the first for the United States in a first round tie on home soil in 105 years of Davis Cup play.
Croatia will line up against Romania in the quarter-finals.
