Nalbandian-Schwank d. Cilic-Karlovic,  3-6, 7-6, 6-3, 6-7 8-6

Given the drama from the first day of the tie, I had been hoping for a slightly less topsy-turvy doubles rubber, in which Argentina emerged the victor.

It wasn’t easy, but Schwalbandian won the crucial doubles rubber.  After a 5 hours match, (at this point, both Nalby and Cilic have both logged more than 10 hours on the tennis court), Nalby-Schwank took the 5th set 8-6 over Cilic-Karlovic.  The Argentinean crowd played a crucial role in lifting the spirits of their players.  Cilic commented after the match, “Never in my career have I played in front of a crowd like this.”  Still, Cilic was a good sport about the home crowd’s support of Nalby/Edu — he said they were right to support their players and that the wind played more of a factor in Croatia’s loss in the doubles.

I wasn’t…