Serbia overcomes Canada 3-2 in the Davis Cup semifinals thanks to Sunday singles victories by Novak Djokovic and Janko Tipsarevic. Djokovic and Tipsarevic score respective straight-set defeats of Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil.
Novak Djokovic (SRB) d. Milos Raonic (CAN) 7-6(1), 6-2, 6-2
Djokovic kept Serbia’s Davis Cup hopes alive by forcing a fifth rubber in its semifinal tie against Canada with a straight-set victory over Raonic that required one two hours and eight minutes to be completed. The world No. 1 immediately gave back a break in the opener, but he recovered in the ensuing tiebreaker. In fact, Djokovic lost only one point in the ‘breaker to the delight of the Serbian crowd.
Sets two and three were more straightforward, as Raonic began to fade. The Canadian, better-suited for a fast hard court as opposed to clay, dropped serve early in the second, missed break chances at 1-2, then was broken again at 2-4. Djokovic served out the second then broke in each of his first two return games of the third. He served out the match at 5-2 to ensure a decisive fifth rubber between Janko Tipsarevic and Vasek Pospisil.
Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) d. Vasek Pospisil (CAN) 7-6(3), 6-2, 7-6(6)
Something had to give in this one because Serbia had already lost two heartbreakers in this Davis Cup tie and Pospisil had already endured more than his fair share of heartbreak this summer. Trying times again befell Pospisil on Sunday, as the Canadian did not have quite enough playing on the road on an unfavorable surface against a higher-ranked opponent. He did well to force tiebreakers in both the first and third sets, but Tipsarevic ultimately prevailed in two hours and 56 minutes.
A dramatic tie, in which Tipsarevic lost a singles match to Raonic 10-8 in the fifth and Serbia lost the doubles rubber by the same score, was not without nail-biting moments at the finish line. Tipsarevic led 6-2 in the third-set tiebreaker with four match points only to see Pospisil save every single one. An errant backhand by Pospisil dug him into another hole at 6-7, and he almost fought off one more match point with a perfect serve-and-volley play. It ended, though, with both men sprawled headlong on the clay–Pospisil after a shoe-string volley and Tipsarevic after having tracked it down to send back a clinching forehand winner. The Serbs will host the final this fall against the Czech Republic, which is the defending Davis Cup champion.
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It is only at DC matches that we get to see the relatively unknown younger players who have been given the chance of performing on a big stage against much higher ranked players in a highly charged atmosphere and showing what they are capable of.
Pospisil acquitted himself extremely well in the doubles and also by making the final rubber against Tipsy competitive. He fared less well against Djokovic, as was only to be expected, but afterwards gave a mature and thoughtful analysis of his performance and what he learnt from the experience. Definitely a player to watch.
A nice write-up of the 5th rubber:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/o7uvgqz
I didn’t get to see either of Dan Evans’ matches but his heroic efforts earlier in the year (which I did watch) had helped the Brits reach the play-offs and to get back into the World Group. The depleted Croatian team were fielding two unknowns – 16yr old Coric and 20yr old Pavic both of whom went through a steep but no doubt valuable learning curve.
The other thing I like about DC is the opportunity to see top doubles players in action.
Very nice write-up by Tiggy on Davis Cup:
http://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2013/09/full-cup/49171/#.UjfdYT9RCDc
I quite agree with him, Novak is a totally different creature when playing for Serbia, I actually find myself warming to him! I was rooting for Serbia through the weekend.
During the post match Serbian celebrations I kept thinking about what happened after the last time Djokovic led his country to DC victory!
Most people pretty much agree that Djoko’s performance has been a crisis in confidence rather than a deterioration in his game. We are about to find out if lightening strikes twice in the same place.
It was put to Tipsy in his interview that he had enjoyed a similar surge after their historic 2010 win to which he responded ‘he hoped it would happen again’.