ZADAR, Croatia -- Marin Cilic held his nerve to beat big-hitting Lucas Pouille 6-1, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2 and draw Croatia level against France at 1-1 in their Davis Cup semifinal on Friday.Earlier, Richard Gasquet won the opening tie against Borna Coric in straight sets to heap the pressure on the big-serving Cilic.But the 2014 U.S. Open champion fended off the threat from the 22-year-old Pouille, who is considered one of the rising stars of tennis.Cilic was serving for the second set at 6-5 and 40-0 up but made two big unforced errors on his forehand as Pouille broke back to force a tiebreaker, which Cilic eventually clinched with an ace after wasting set points.Pouille, a U.S. Open quarterfinalist last month, made an early break and then held for 3-1 on his way to comfortably winning the third set.But Cilic took Pouilles first service game of the fourth set and then led 4-2 before saving two break points in the seventh game and then hitting two aces to win it and move 5-2 up.Cilic clinched victory in the next game on his first match point when Pouille double-faulted.I felt the intensity of the match especially in the first two sets, Cilic said. Lucas wasnt too bad in the opening two sets but I managed to push him back and felt I was hitting my ground strokes well from the baseline.But the moment I lost a little bit of focus he was there and I had to work hard to stay in control of the match. I had to get my rhythm back at the beginning of the fourth set and getting that break early on was crucial.France started brightly and quietened the home fans at the Kresimir Cosic Hall in Zadar.Gasquet, who found out he would play in singles after Gael Monfils left the injury-hit France team on Wednesday, was in complete control against Coric and prevailed 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-1, limiting his mistakes to just 13 unforced errors.The 17th-ranked Frenchman, whose previous match ended in a straight sets loss to Kyle Edmund in the first round at the U.S Open first round, said winning the second set tiebreak was the key to the match.After Coric failed to serve out the second set, Gasquet erased a 3-1 deficit in the tiebreak. Down 6-3, Coric saved two set points but buried a backhand into the net and Gasquet took a two-set lead.I won, thats the most important. Its Davis Cup, its never easy, Gasquet said. Three sets to zero, its a great result for me. It was important for me to make him run.Gasquet improved his singles record to 12-8. France is without Monfils and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who have both been ruled out by knee problems.France has the clear advantage in Saturdays doubles, with Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert -- the top-ranked doubles players in the world -- up against Ivan Dodig and Marin Draganja, although Cilic hinted he could step up at the last minute against the French pair.Tomorrow morning we will decide if I am going to play in the doubles or not, Cilic said. I feel well, I am not overly exhausted.In reverse singles Sunday, Gasquet faces Cilic and Pouille takes on the 19-year-old Coric.The winner plays Britain or Argentina in the final. Victor Mete Jersey . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Artturi Lehkonen Jersey . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. http://www.authenticcanadiensshopnhl.com/jacques-plante-jersey/ . Having already announced that the race will start May 9 with three stages in Northern Ireland and Ireland and finish in Trieste on June 1, the rest of the route was unveiled Monday. Paul Byron Jersey . "We have always prided ourselves on the way we play defence. Having two big pieces back is going to be a key for us moving forward for years to come," said Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen. Charles Hudon Jersey . It was hard for Luck to pull off another comeback, or even get into the end zone, while standing on the sideline. Rivers threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to rookie Keenan Allen and Nick Novak kicked four field goals to give the Chargers a 19-9 victory against the Colts on Monday night. Sydney are into their third AFL grand final in five years after ambushing Geelong early on Friday night at the MCG and winning by 37 points.The 2012 premiers jumped Geelong with the first eight goals of their preliminary final on the way to a convincing win, 15.7 (97) to 8.12 (60).The Swans will play the winner of Saturdays preliminary final between the Giants and the Western Bulldogs at Spotless Stadium.Geelong fought back hard in the third term to create some interest in the contest, but they were coming from too far back after trailing by 55 points.Sydneys early domination will reignite debate about the fairness of the round-23 bye.After Geelong beat Hawthorn in their qualifying final, it meant the Cats had played only once in 26 days before Friday night.By contrast, the Swans lost their qualifying final and had to come through last weeks semis.This had been widely tipped to be a tight battle, with little appearing to separate two of the leagues toughest teams.But the Swans pressure initially was manic and they put Geelong out of the contest early.It was reminiscent of the mugging Hawthorn inflicted on the Swans in the opening quarter of the 2014 grand final.Sydney kicked 7.2 to five behinds in the first quarter and the Cats did not score their first goal until four minutes into the second term.Isaac Heeney, Lance Franklin, Ben McGlynn, Luke Parker with two goals in as many minutes, and Dane Rampe set Sydney alight in the first quarter.The domination continued in the second term, with Sydney kicking four goals to two.Cats defender Harry Taylor went forward in the third term and kicked two goals as Geelong worked their way back into the match.When they kicked the first goal of the last term, they only trailed by five goals.But Cats veteran Corey Enright mucked up a kickout and Gary Rohan pounced at five minutes to kick the steadying goal that killed off Geelongs belated challenge.Geelong remarkably won the inside-50 count by a whopping 72 to 40, but they butchered too many chances in front of goal and the Swans defence, led by All Australian Dane Rampe, was outstanding.Swwans defender Aliir Aliir hurt his knee late in the first term and he will be their injury story of grand final week.ddddddddddddBut he was running along the boundary nearing halftime and might have been put on ice.Teammates Gary Rohan and Kurt Tippett, who were injured earlier in the finals series, had solid games on Friday night.Swans co-captain Jarrad McVeigh missed the match with a calf injury and said pre-game he was close to being available.Brownlow Medal favourite Patrick Dangerfield was best for the Cats.Geelong veteran Jimmy Bartel, who kicked a great goal in the second term, faces an uncertain AFL future.While he is likely to stay at Geelong, there is speculation about how much time he will spend next year in the VFL.Swans coach John Longmire praised his sides early ferocity.It was enormous, our pressure at the ball, the man with the ball, he said.He admitted to concern when Geelong pressed in the second half, but again was pleased that his team withstood the pressure.This is finals footy - youre not going to have it all your own way, he said.They certainly had a lot of inside 50s, but I thought our boys really stood up.We were one down (with Aliir injured) and kept going at it.Longmire said Aliir was a bit sore and added it was unclear whether he would be fit for the grand final.It was pointed out to Longmire that whoever Sydney play in the grand final is chasing history.So are we, was Longmires response.The Swans have regenerated their team superbly in the last two years, but Longmire said they still had to complete their hard work.Were thrilled to get an opportunity, but now we have to go out and execute - the job is ahead of us, he said.Cats coach Chris Scott said their opinion on the finals bye was unchanged - that they would rather have had it.We clearly need to analyse how we approached it, he said.We were confident going in ... we thought we gave ourselves every chance.It was completely in our control and we just didnt deliver. 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