Serbia in Davis Cup final
Belgrade, Sept. 20: Serbia secured their first appearance in the Davis Cup finals after defeating the Czech Republic 3-2 on Sunday in a tense semifinal which went down to the final singles rubber.
Janko Tipsarevic led Serbia to victory with a straight sets victory over Czech Radek Stepanek in the decider after world number two Novak Djokovic had defeated Tomas Berdych 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 before more than 15,000 fans in the Belgrade sports Arena.
Tipsarevic, ranked 37th in the world, gave his best in the first set, boosted by Djokovic’s victory, securing it 6-0. But the second set saw him buckle a little under pressure, with Stepanek quickly seizing the opportunity to force a tie-break. However Tipsarevic dug deep to prevail 8-6.
The third set started with Tipsarevic’s break, allowing Stepanek only several clean serves. He missed two match balls but then secured the set 6-4 to put Serbia into the finals. Earlier Djokovic defeated Berdych despite losing the first set 4-6.
There was drama then when Djokovic stumbled and fell on his right knee. Serbia’s coach Bogdan Obradovic checked him out and after a tense scare, Djokovic returned to the court with a bandaged knee.
That near ten-minute pause broke Berdych’s rhythm and Djokovic managed to slowly turn the game. “I did not feel well at the start of the match, but the fall energised me, it woke me up,” he said.
Disappointed Bardych said the Davis Cup matches “are the toughest in tennis”.
“The pressure is enormous, almost impossible to overcome,” he said.
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