Baseline Award: Most patriotic performance

Across the last two weeks of December, Baseline will dish out awards for the greatest acts of 2018.

It can be hard to bounce back from a loss like that.

Back in 2016, Croatia was a set away from clinching the Davis Cup title when Marin Cilic stormed to a commanding lead against Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina in the fourth rubber of the final. To the disappointment of the home crowd, Del Potro rallied to win the contest in five sets to level the tie, forcing a live rubber to decide the championship. Argentina would go on to win, leaving Cilic—and Croatia—to wonder, “what if.”

After dropping its 2017 opener against Spain, without Cilic, Croatia was forced to contest a playoff tie against Colombia. Cilic returned to the fold and helped the team to a 4-1 win, placing the nation in the 2018 World Group.

Coming off a run to the Australian Open final, Cilic was only available for doubles in the first-round tie against Canada. Going down two sets to love against Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil, Cilic and Ivan Dodig rallied to win the crucial doubles point in five sets, part of the overall 3-1 margin of victory.

In the quarterfinals, Cilic took both of his singles rubbers against Kazakhstan, helping Croatia to another 3-1 win. The semifinal matchup against the United States was a tougher affair: Playing at home on clay for the third tie in a row, Cilic split his singles matches, leaving it up to his young countryman Borna Coric to take the live fifth rubber and put Croatia into the final against France, the defending champions.

Surprisingly, France chose an indoor clay court for the final, playing conditions Croatia thrived under in 2018.  With Coric taking the opener against Jeremy Chardy, Cilic staked the visitors to a 2-0 lead with a straight-sets win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

France found a glimmer of hope as Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert beat Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic in doubles. The first reverse singles tie pit Cilic against Lucas Pouille, with the Croat taking the court for the second time in his career with the Davis Cup title on his racquet.

This time, he didn’t disappoint.

Two years after that devastating loss to Del Potro, redemption came in the form of a straight-sets win over Lucas Pouille, giving Croatia its second-ever Davis Cup title—and exorcising any demons of 2016 for Cilic.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias