Croatia may well be the bookies' favourites to lift the Davis Cup on Sunday, but in-form Ivan Ljubicic is taking nothing for granted as his country prepares to face Slovakia at Bratislava's Sibamac Arena.
It is the first time either nation has reached the final of team tennis' most prestigious tournament and there is much more than pride at stake for two young countries who can still be classed as newcomers on the global sporting scene.
Indeed, neither team was expected to reach the final at all, but Slovakia were impressive 4-1 winners over Argentina in the semi-finals while Croatia made it through on the back of a 3-2 triumph over Russia.
Much of the Croatians' success can be attributed to Ljubicic, whose outstanding form this season saw him finish in the top 10 in the world rankings and reach eight ATP finals, with victories in both Metz and Vienna.
However, Ljubicic has warned his opening clash with Karol Beck will be far from straightforward.
He said: "He is, in my opinion, a very talented player and can still improve a lot. And obviously playing in Bratislava in front of his home crowd, he is going to give everything he has and I don't expect an easy match at all."
