Donna Vekic clinched a win for Croatia over the Netherlands at the United Cup in Sydney with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 defeat of Arantxa Rus on Tuesday.

Earlier, Borna Coric had bounced back from a straight-sets loss Monday to give Croatia a 1-0 lead. The 2022 Cincinnati champion defeated Tallon Griekspoor 7-6(4), 6-4 inside Ken Rosewall Arena.

However, Demi Schuurs and Wesley Koolhof denied Croatia in the mixed doubles, saving a match point in the super-tiebreak against Vekic and Ivan Dodig for a 6-7(3), 6-3, [14-12] victory. Croatia's 2-1 win meant that all three teams in Group F were tied with a 50% sets percentage and advancement hinged on games percentage -- sending Norway through to the quarterfinals.

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After saving a pair of break points in her first service game, Vekic dominated Rus with a blend of power and touch in the first set. The World No.24's forehand was on song. She garnered her the first break of Rus's serve for 3-2, while she also kept the Dutchwoman off-balance with judicious use of the drop shot.

However, Rus hit back in the second set with strong serving -- the World No.51 did not face a break point in this stretch -- to keep her nose in front. At 4-3, she captured the decisive break of the set thanks to smart net play and a series of errant forehands from Vekic.

But Vekic regained control in the decider with rock-solid all-round play. The 27-year-old kept Rus on the back foot throughout, pressuring the forehand side to elicit a series of errors on key points. Vekic also impressed on defense, coming up with a pinpoint lob en route to breaking for an unassailable 5-1 lead.