Cilic, Dodig push Croatia to brink of Davis Cup

ZAGREB — Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig beat Argentine pair Juan Martin del Potro and Leonardo Mayer 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/4, 6-3 in Saturday's doubles to put Croatia 2-1 up in the Davis Cup final. 
Former US Open champion Cilic gave Croatia the upper hand by winning Friday's opening singles rubber against Federico Delbonis before Del Potro leveled for Argentina with a four-set win over Ivo Karlovic. 
Both Cilic and Del Potro were drafted in for Saturday's doubles with the former teaming up with Dodig to claim the first two sets in a tie-break before wrapping up victory after Mayer dropped serve at 3-2 down in the third. 
Olympic silver medalist Del Potro, who has bounced back after two injury-ravaged seasons, must beat sixth-ranked Cilic in Sunday's reverse singles to keep alive Argentine hopes of a first Davis Cup title. 
Karlovic and Delbonis would then face off in the deciding rubber. 
Croatia defeated Slovakia in 2005 for the country's only Davis Cup title, while Argentina — beaten by Spain in both 2008 and 2011 — have finished runner-up four times. 
Argentina fought back to level against Croatia as Del Potro beat Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3, 7-5 after Cilic’s five-set defeat of Federico Delbonis Friday. 
Del Potro had to dig deep to overcome Karlovic, who was spurred on by an electrifying atmosphere in the Zagreb Arena. 
A raucous home crowd was matched by an equally fervent Argentine contingent, which included the country’s former soccer team captain and World Cup winner Diego Maradona in the VIP box. 
“It was great to have Diego here, everyone wants to see him and he is a very nice person who likes tennis,” Del Potro told a news conference. 
Cilic had fired the hosts ahead by outlasting Delbonis 6-3, 7-5, 3-6, 1-6, 6-2 in a titanic tussle, having recovered after losing his momentum when he squandered three break points in the seventh game of the third set.