Pressure was on Elmer Moller to provide the goods in a showdown between the two countries' highest-ranked singles players in the tournament, Dino Prizmic and Elmer Moller, who are ranked 121 and 120 in the world, respectively.
Prizmic was the favorite in familiar surroundings with plenty of backup, a passionate Croatian crowd in Varadin. The Croatian's strong serve in the two tiebreaks proved decisive in a statistically almost entirely equal match.
Moller gave plenty of examples of his repertoire during the match, but despite his strong fight, he was made to pay dearly for more unforced errors and eight double faults against only one Croatian in the entire match.
Earlier in the day, Johannes Ingildsen and Davis Cup debutant Carl Emil Overbeck, who replaced August Holmgren, lost 6-2, 7-5 to Mate Pavic and Nikola Mekitic, who are ranked 6 and 15, respectively, in the world, compared to Ingildsen, who is ranked 122, while Overbeck is 527 in the world.
Croatia will face either Germany or Peru in a duel for a place in the Davis Cup Finals, featuring the eight best nations in the world, while Denmark will face their next opponent in World Group 1 in September.