Tennis Frontier

Tag: serbia

  • Federer Commits to Davis Cup Action

    Federer Commits to Davis Cup Action

    Roger Federer

    Roger Federer will join the Australian Open champion and new Swiss No.1 Stanislas Wawrinka in their Davis Cup first-round tie against Serbia.

    “I can confirm that Roger is in Serbia and will play in the Davis Cup,” stated Sandra Perez of the Swiss Tennis Federation.

    It is the first time since 2012 that Federer has made the commitment to play Davis Cup and the last time he played a first round tie was back in 2005.

    The Swiss will begin the tie as favorites with Serbia missing Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic. The makeshift Serbian team will provisionally feature Dusan Lajovic (ranked No. 102) and Filip Krajinovic (No. 280) in singles, with Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac pairing up for the doubles.

    The tie will be played on an indoor hard court in Novi Sad.

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    Cover Photo: Kenneth Hong, (Creative Commons License)

  • Czech Republic Repeats in Davis Cup

    Czech Republic Repeats in Davis Cup

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    For the second straight year, the Czechs have won the Davis Cup trophy, this year defeating the host team Serbia, 3-2.

    The Serbian team was hamstrung by the losses of Janko Tipsarevic (injury) and Victor Troicki (serving a ban for missing a drug test), forcing them to play the unknown No. 117-ranked Dusan Lajovic in two of the singles matches.  Having the world No. 2 Novak Djokovic on their side was not enough for Serbia to repeat their 2010 victory.

    For the Czech Republic, it was again their stalwarts, Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek, who were the two-man show all weekend, as they had been in defeating Spain this time last year.  When the teams split the singles rubbers on Friday, the Czech’s decided to press Berdych-Stepanek, a proven combination (14-1 total Davis Cup record as a doubles team) into service again on Saturday, when it seemed that the doubles might decide the eventual winner, given the weakness and inexperience of Lajovic.  Somewhat controversially, Djokovic was not substituted in to play with Nenad Zimonjic (at 37, the oldest man ever to play in a Davis Cup final), who teamed with Ilija Bozoljac, in what was indeed a losing effort against the crafty Czech pair.  Today, Djokovic defeated Berdych to assure a live rubber for the 5th match.  And just as he did last year, Stepanek clinched for his team.

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    Scores:

    Novak Djokovic d. Radek Stepanek: 7-5, 6-1, 6-4

    Tomas Berdych d. Dusan Lajovic: 6-3, 6-4, 6-3

    Berdych/Stepanek d. Bozoljac/Zimonjic: 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (4)

    Djokovic d. Berdych: 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-2

    Stepanek d. Lajovic: 6-3, 6-1, 6-1

    Photo credit:  elPadawan (Creative Commons License)

  • Djokovic clinches Davis Cup Semi Final Berth for Serbia

    Djokovic clinches Davis Cup Semi Final Berth for Serbia

    Novak Djokovic booked Serbia’s place in the last four of the Davis Cup with a 7-5 6-7 6-1 6-0 over the United States’ Sam Querry.
    Serbia now lead the series 3-1. In 2010 Serbia also put an end to the US Davis Cup ambitions.

    “I am happy I managed to play the whole match,” Djokovic said. “I played really well in the third and fourth set”

    Djokovic was also battling through a nagging ankle injury and his entry to Monte Carlo may now be in doubt.

    Djokovic, who had to battle through an ankle injury he suffered in the opening set, earned a 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 6-0 win to give the Serbians an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five tie against the Americans.

    During the match Djokovic outgunned Querry, hitting 12 aces and 41 winners.

    Serbia will face the winners between Italy and Canada in the semif-finals.