Ivo Karlovic pulled off his third win of the week to beat Go Soeda and give Croatia a 3-2 victory over Japan in the Davis Cup tennis World Group first round tie on Sunday.

Croatia’s number three, who defeated Japanese number one Kei Nishikori on the first day, notched a 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 6-4 victory in the last of the best-of-five contest.

Earlier in the day, Australian Open quarter-finalist Nishikori evened the tie 2-2 beating Ivan Dodig 7-5 7-6 (7-4) 6-3.

“I was tense at the beginning of the match, but I was able to overcome an uphill battle. I felt confident with my strokes in the latter half of the match,” said Nishikori.

On Friday, Soeda edged past Dodig 6-7 (3-7) 3-6 6-4 6-3 7-5 to put Japan one up, but Karlovic came to the rescue beating Nishikori 6-4 6-4 6-3, and added another win in the doubles with Dodig 6-4 6-4 3-6 6-3 on Saturday.

In the quarter-finals, Croatia will play Argentina, who beat Germany 3-0 in their first round tie, while Japan have a play-off.