Novak Djokovic pulled double duty to take the suspense out of the first-round Davis Cup tie between Serbia and Croatia. Djokovic won his singles match on Friday then teamed up with Nenad Zimonjic to take Saturday’s doubles rubber in Kraljevo.
“I was very much aware of my young opponent’s quality,” the world No. 1 said following his 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Mate Delic on Friday. “He does have a lot of potential to be very good in the future. I enjoyed the atmosphere very much as I played for the first time in Kraljevo and this region in general. It was a full house and overall a very positive emotion.”
Viktor Troicki’s 4-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 comeback against Borna Coric gave Djokovic and Zimonjic an opportunity to clinch the overall win for the host nation on Saturday. That’s exactly what they did, beating Marin Draganja and Franco Skugor 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.
Djokovic and Zimonjic interview:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQo9Swh5_Kw]
France is the only other country through to the World Group quarterfinals after just two days of action. The remaining six ties will all be decided on Sunday.
Arguably the deepest team in tennis, France cruised past Germany 3-0 thanks to all four of its players. Following singles victories by Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils, Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut won the doubles rubber. They defeated Andre Begemann and Benjamin Becker 6-4, 6-3, 6-2.
Clement and company await either Great Britain or the United States in the last eight. Serbia will go up against the Brazil-Argentina winner.
France-Germany doubles highlights:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3rqWmn3zqM]
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