Croatia’s Borna Coric outplayed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy to give his country the perfect start in the Davis Cup final on Friday.
The 22-year-old broke serve in the opening game of the opening singles rubber inside the huge Stade Pierre Mauroy and was in control throughout a one-sided contest to claim a 6-2 7-5 6-4 victory and put favourites Croatia 1-0 ahead.
Holders France, bidding to win the Davis Cup for the 11th time, will now hope Jo-Wilfried Tsonga can level things up when he takes on world No.7 Marin Cilic later.
If not it will be a long way back for the hosts, who have won seven successive ties in the competition.
Yannick Noah, hoping to end his third stint as France captain with a fourth title, sprang a surprise by opting for Chardy for the opening day’s singles rather than Lucas Pouille, the highest-ranked player in his squad.
His gamble backfired though as the 31-year-old was given a claycourt lesson by the world No.12.
There was an end-of-era feel during the buildup to the final — the last before the 118-year-old team competition gets a major revamp next year.
Whatever the future holds it did not detract from the electric atmosphere under the closed roof of a stadium which is home to soccer club Lille and last week hosted a rugby international between France and Argentina.
The large block of Croatians high up in the freezing upper tiers soon found their voices as Coric, hero of his country’s semi-final win over the United States, took control against 40th-ranked Chardy.
He broke serve after an 11-minute opening game in which Chardy led 40-0 and won 15 points in a row on his way to taking the first set in emphatic fashion.
Noah’s pep talks galvanised Chardy in the second set and his booming forehand finally gave him a toe-hold in the match.
Coric was relentless though and at 5-5 he forged three break points after some terrific scrambling and Chardy, who had saved break points at 3-3, succumbed with a weak backhand.
The only moment of concern for Coric was when he left the court for a medical timeout leading 4-3 with a break of serve in the third set. Again Noah got in Chardy’s ear but to no avail as Coric returned to finish the job.