Croatians celebrate Davis Cup winning

World
Europe

00:35

Croatia's Davis Cup-winning team received a heroes' welcome as they gathered in Zagreb to celebrate the historic victory with thousands of fans. Earlier, the Croatian players had a memorable welcoming ceremony at the Zagreb airport following their triumphant return following their emphatic win over France in the final last Sunday.

The players, standing on an improvised stage in Ban Jelacic square, joined the crowd, wrapped themselves in Croatia's red-and-white chequered flags, in chanting chanted "Croatia, Croatia!."

It's the second time eastern Europeans have clinched the prestigious title in the men's international team tournament.

Croatia team captain Zeljko Kraja (R) and Marin Cilic (L) celebrate winning the Davis Cup in Zagreb, Croatia, November 26, 2018. /VCG Photo

The winners landed in Zagreb on Monday less than 24 hours after their Davis Cup title glory in Lille and went straight to a parade in Zagreb where thousands of supporters gathered to celebrate.

Croatia's first Davis Cup victory came in 2005, and the closest they had previously come to re-capturing the silverware was in 2016, when they lost in the final against Argentina.

This time, a clinical Marin Cilic, the only active Grand Slam winner from the country and currently world No.7, spearhead the Croatian challenge as his reverse singles victory over Lucas Pouille handed Croatia a memorable 3-1 victory over the defending champions in the best-of-five final.

Croatians celebrate winning the Davis Cup in Zagreb, Croatia, November 26, 2018. /VCG Photo

After his team's triumph and the subsequent grand welcome, Cilic said, "Bonjour, Bonjour Zagreb. Thank you all for this welcome. This is terrific being a world champion and to get such a party back home. It's a dream. Thank you for your support. There were quite a lot of our supporters in Lille and all through the weekend they were supporting us.”

“There was great support from Croatia. Thank you all very much, from the bottom of my heart. We are overwhelmed with happiness, we are world champions, we brought this trophy to Croatia and we showed everyone that we are the best.”