BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Croatia won its first Davis Cup title Sunday, with Mario Ancic beating Michal Mertinak of Slovakia 7-6 (1), 6-3, 6-4 in the decisive fifth match.
Dominik Hrbaty had pulled Slovakia even at 2-2 by defeating an ailing Ivan Ljubicic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Ancic then downed Mertinak to clinch the best-of-five series between two first-time finalists.
Croatia's Nikki Pilic became the first captain to win the trophy for different nations. He led Germany to Davis Cup titles in 1988, 1989 and 1993.
"There is no comparison," Pilic said at the victory ceremony. "Today I won with my people."
Croatia became the 12th champion in the competition's 105-year history. This was Croatia's biggest team success since the country became independent in 1991 during the violent break-up of Yugoslavia. The soccer team's third-place finish at the 1998 World Cup had been considered Croatia's sports highlight.
"The Davis Cup is one of the greatest competitions in the world and I am really proud of my team," Pilic said.
Goran Ivanisevic, who came out of retirement for the final, added the Davis Cup championship to his 2001 Wimbledon title. He wasn't selected to play singles or doubles but was a member of the four-man squad.
Ivanisevic's Wimbledon title and Janica Kostelic's four Olympic medals, including three gold, at the Salt Lake City Games in 2002, remain the country's top individual sports achievements.
Ivanisevic has been the mentor Ancic, who had never won a match that counted this year in Davis Cup — but he took the biggest one of them all. Ranked No. 22, he overwhelmed the 165th-ranked Mertinak, who has played mostly challenger events all year and who is primarily a doubles specialist.
Karol Kucera had been scheduled to play the last match for Slovakia, but the 31-year-old veteran, who plans to retire after the weekend, has hardly played this year and Slovakia captain Miloslav Mecir went with Mertinak.
Slovakia was without Karol Beck, who was nominated but withdrawn Friday after aggravating a left-knee injury. He has denied unconfirmed reports of failing a doping test after the semifinal win over Argentina.
Hrbaty ended Ljubicic's unbeaten run in Davis Cup play this year and beat the Croat for the first time in six meetings.
"I believed I could clinch a best-of-five as Ivan had lost some five-setters recently," Hrbaty said.
Ljubicic was 4-10 in five-setters in his career; Hrbaty went in with a 12-7 record.
Ljubicic failed to equal John McEnroe's 1982 record of 12 Davis Cup wins in a year — eight singles and four doubles. Ljubicic finished the year 11-1.
He said he woke up with neck pain that required treatment all morning.
"I didn't know if I would play or not," he said. "It was probably the most difficult decision I had to make in my career — to play or not."
Ljubicic said he had to vomit when he left the court during the third set because he felt ill after taking painkillers. He also said he had trouble concentrating during the match.
"But Dominik really played well and deserved to win, it was the best match he played against me," Ljubicic said.
Ljubicic appeared to be cruising when he won the first set. But he fell behind 3-0 in the second and Hrbaty rode the momentum to take a 2-1 lead in sets. The Slovak, ranked No. 19, committed two double-faults and a backhand error in dropping his serve to give Ljubicic a 5-3 lead in the fourth.
Ljubicic, who won two tournaments in October and finished runner-up in two others to rise to No. 9, closed the set with an ace. He finished with 29 aces to Hrbaty's 15.
There were no breaks of serve in the final set until the last game.
Ljubicic needed to win the game to stay in the match. But Hrbaty then got the benefit of the doubt on a pair of close calls, Ljubicic hit a backhand into the net and Hrbaty held a match point. A backhand winner down the line saved it for Ljubicic, but a backhand volley again put Hrbaty one shot away from winning. Ljubicic saved it, too, but then put a backhand into the net.
Hrbaty ripped off his shirt and tossed it into the Slovak half of the crowd of about 4,000 at Sibamac Arena. But, in the end, the Croat section broke into song.
"We saw three days of world-class tennis, and in the end the better team won," Mecir said. "I congratulate Croatia."