Jul 12, 2009, 19:08 GMT
Porec, Croatia - Croatia will line up in the Davis Cup World Group semi-finals against the Czech Republic after chasing the 32-times champion US Sunday out of the competition with a 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 defeat of James Blake Sunday.
The result on indoor clay gave the hosts a winning 3-1 scoreline.
'This was one of the greatest ties I've played so far,' said Cilic, 'I've gained a lot of experience here.
'The Czechs are a great team, but playing at home is a little bit of an advantage, so with our team we can go through to the final,' he said of the 2005 champions.
Radek Stepanek, who suffered with an injury at Wimbledon, insured the Czech advance in Ostrava, completing a 3-2 weekend with a defeat of Juan Monaco 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-2.
World number five Juan Del Potro had kept the visitors alive, his 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Tomas Berdych knotting the score at 2-2.
The second semi-final September 18-20 will pit underdog Israel against Spain after Juan Carlos Ferrero rode to the rescue of the defending champions in Marbella.
In Tel Aviv, the Israelis finished off a dream weekend to reach a first-ever semi-final after defeating two-time champion Russia, 4-1.
Harel Levy completed 4-1 home result, beating Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) after Israeli Dudi Sela was forced to retire trailing Igor Andreev 4-3.
Ferrero, 29, has been storming through a comeback this season, winning a clay title in Casablanca three months ago to end a five-year title drought and reaching a Wimbledon quarter-final against Andy Murray.
The veteran made his first Davis Cup start since 2005 as he came earned his 16th victory from 23 rubbers.
Earlier German Philipp Kohlschreiber clawed the visitors back with a 6-4, 6-2, 1-6, 2-6, 8-6 defeat of Fernando Verdasco, playing for his third straight day.
'My legs were not working like I wanted, it was so tough to play,' said Verdasco, point-man in a side missing Rafael Nadal. 'It's unfortunate that I lost in the fifth but I'm proud I was able to give more than 100 per cent.'
Blake's battering on indoor clay was the second defeat of the weekend for the 29-year-old who lost in the first round at both the French Open and Wimbledon.
His record dropped to 7-10 in live rubbers.
'Marin has played great this weekend, he took care of business against Mardy (Fish on Friday) and played a very solid match today,' said Blake. 'I gave him a few too many chances.
'I was a bit too passive, didn't take as many risks as I normally do, and he took advantage of that.'
Croatia are the only team with a positive record against the Americans, having won all three of their ties in 2003, 2005 and at this Adriatic port resort.
The US was trying to recover from 2-0 down for the first time since 1934 but failed spectacularly in the attempt as Blake fell.
Cilic, ranked 15th, called his effort 'one of the best matches I've played.' 'I felt good on court, moved really well, and even though I lost the third set I felt I was playing good and my tactics were perfect, so I kept going and eventually broke him.'
Your Talkback on this Story