Marin Cilic needs to beat Philipp Kohlschreiber to keep Croatia's 2011 Davis Cup chances alive.
If recent history is anything to go by Croatia's chances look pretty slim going into day three of their tie with Germany, needing to win both reverse singles rubbers. They have not come back from 2-1 down since 1993 and in previous ties between the countries, the doubles have always proved decisive in the outcome.
There's been no shortage of excitement so far with all three rubbers going the distance. Cilic delivered the goods on day one, digging deep to hit back from two sets to one down against former nemesis Florian Mayer. Kohlschreiber then emulated his feats, recovering from a similar deficit to take down the big serving Ivan Dodig.
Kohlschreiber will be confident of wrapping up victory given his past record against Cilic. He has won four of their six matches, beating him pretty comfortably in Metz last autumn - 6-4, 6-1.
Kohlschreiber's record in key Davis Cup rubbers is also pretty impressive. He has beaten the likes of Fernando Verdasco, Jurgen Melzer and Nikolay Davydenko in crunch matches in the past.
Prediction: Kohlschreiber to spoil the party in five.
