Hrbaty hauls Slovakia level in final

Dominik Hrbaty gave Slovakia a fighting chance in the Davis Cup final yesterday by beating Croatia's Mario Ancic 7-6 6-3 6-7 6-4 to leave the tie poised at 1-1.

The day had begun miserably for the hosts when their number two player Karol Beck was ruled out three hours before the start with a knee injury. His replacement Karol Kucera was then outclassed by Croatian Ivan Ljubicic.

Ljubicic's 6-3 6-4 6-3 victory made him the first player to win 10 consecutive live rubbers in a Davis Cup season since World Group play started in 1981.

The 4,000-capacity Sibamac Arena had been taken over by a raucous army of Croatian fans during the opening singles, but the home fans raised the roof as Hrbaty stormed into a two-set lead against Ancic with some stunning tennis.

Hrbaty snatched the first set tiebreak and the world number 19 looked on course for a straightforward victory when an Ancic double-fault gifted him the second set.

Ancic held his nerve to force the third set into a tiebreak and took advantage of two rash errors from Hrbaty to claw his way back into the match.

Hrbaty regained control of the match at 2-2 in the fourth set, breaking the Ancic serve with a stunning forehand winner as the towering Croat surged to the net.

This time there was no way back for Ancic as Hrbaty closed out the match in three hours 13 minutes to set up an exciting weekend in the Slovakian capital as both nations try to clinch a first Davis Cup title.

Ljubicic and Ancic will team up for today's doubles match, probably against Hrbaty and Michal Mertinak.