Davis Cup triumph a dream come true for Croatia – Cilic

Marin Cilic hailed Croatia's Davis Cup triumph over France as a "dream come true" for his country.

Croatia had previously only lifted the trophy in 2005 and suffered a 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the 2016 final.

Cilic was part of the latter team that surrendered a 2-1 lead to Argentina as they lost both their Sunday singles rubbers, his defeat from two sets up on Juan Martin del Potro handing Federico Delbonis the opportunity to win it for the South Americans against Ivo Karlovic.

It could have been a case of deja vu for Cilic as Croatia went into the third day of this year's final with a 2-1 advantage over France, who kept their hopes alive with a doubles win on Saturday.

becomes2005 - #DavisCup champions2018 - #DavisCup champions pic.twitter.com/ddci8PiUoI
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) 25 November 2018

But Cilic was in no mood for history to repeat itself as he eased to a straight-sets victory over Lucas Pouille, outclassing and overpowering his opponent to dethrone the defending champions.

Speaking after his 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 6-3 victory, Cilic said: "It's not every day that you become a world champion.

"For us it's a dream come true, for this nation, we are so passionate, you can see the fans are enjoying themselves. I feel that in Croatia it's going to be incredible too."