There was continuous speculation about the venue of the Davis Cup final between the hosts Croatia and Argentina taking place on November 27th, and the location of the final has finally been revealed.

The two nations will compete in the Croatian capital of Zagreb at the Arena Zagreb, which was the plan at the start of the discussions.

However, the tournament organizers also had the Davis Cup final taking place in Split or Zadar, which was the venue for Croatia's semifinal triumph over France in mind but there were strict regulations from the ITF about the other two venues.

Arena Zagreb is a suitable venue

The Arena Zagreb in Croatia met the requirements needed for the showdown between the two nations as the stadium has a 15,000 capacity, the same size as Wimbledon's Centre Court.

It is an ideal location for the final to be held at because there are good transport links to the airport, and the roads are suitable for the location.

Zadar or Split could not compete with Zagreb on technical terms by not catering for journalists efficiently which Zagreb boasts by having a press center for at least 200 journalists.

The location in Zagreb has space for 4 TV stations and 7 radio channels who will be covering the final.

Karlovic part of the Davis Cup winning team in 2005 (Source : Google Images)
Karlovic part of the Davis Cup-winning team in 2005 (Source : Google Images)

The 2005 Davis Cup winners will be hosting their biggest tennis tournament event in their country, even though, a TV program that was due to air live on TV simultaneously with the Davis Cup had to be moved at an earlier time.

Karlovic returns

The Arena Zagreb will host a tennis event for the first time ever, and the Croats will be fielding a strong team with Ivo Karlovic returning to the fold for the first time since 2012.

Karlovic has ended his strained relationship with the Croatian federation, ironically his last appearance for his nation was against Argentina in Buenos Aires, and he declared that he didn't want to represent his country again but he has since changed his mind.

Zeljko Krajan, the Croatia Davis Cup captain will be pleased with Karlovic's inclusion as Borna Coric has undergone knee surgery and will most likely be unavailable 

"Ivo will be in our selection for the final, and that is the biggest news we could hear. With him, we are at least 20% or 30% stronger, and with Borna who will undergo surgery we were uncertain on the position of the second player in singles, all until now."

Krajan added, "With Ivo, we are complete and the favorites again. Ivo didn't want to push or force anything, he recognized the tough position in which we were, and he decided to step in and replace Borna. We all know how important is Dodig for us in the doubles, and it would be extremely hard for him to play all 3 days, both singles and doubles. Ivo came out to meet our requests, and I'm really happy that his answer was positive."

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