Croatia needs only one more point to reach the Davis Cup quarter-finals after Ivan Dodig and Franko Skugor won the doubles against Belgium's Ruben Bemelmans and David Goffin on Saturday.
After a tense first set, Dodig and Skugor broke their opponents four times and prevailed 7-6 (7-5) 6-3 6-1 to give Croatia a 2-1 lead ahead of Sunday's reverse singles.
In the opening singles on Friday, Goffin defeated Borna Coric in five sets on the clay court of the Country Hall, and 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic eased past Kimmer Coppejans in straight sets.
The Belgian pair led 5-4 in the tiebreaker but the Croats held on serve and converted their first set point when Bemelmans went long. Dodig and Skugor then converted the second of three set points in the second set after another unforced error from Bemelmans, and easily won the 22-minute final set.
Dodig, who won the French Open doubles title last year with Marcelo Melo, said winning the difficult first set was "one of the keys," adding that "it helped us stay in the match, then we were able to raise our game."
On Sunday, Goffin will play Cilic, and Coppejans will face Coric.
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