Croatia defeated Japan 3-2 in their first-round Davis Cup World Group series on Sunday to advance to the quarterfinals as Ivo Karlovic beat Go Soeda 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-4.
Kei Nishikori defeated Ivan Dodig 7-5, 7-6 (4), 6-3 in Sunday’s first reverse singles to pull the host nation level but Soeda was overpowered by the big-serving Karlovic who had 17 aces.
Japan was playing in the World Group for the first time in 26 years after beating India 4-1 in a regional playoff in September. Croatia is seventh in the Davis Cup rankings, 10 places ahead of Japan.
