Czechs race into shock lead
Date published :
09 Jul 2010 - 11:27:58
Czechs race into shock leadJan Hajek’s comprehensive 60 62 61 victory over Paul Capdeville completed a dream opening day for Czech Republic against Chile at the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group quarterfinal in Coquimbo.Hajek’s triumph followed a shock win for the Czechs in the first rubber, when Ivo Minar defeated Nicolas Massu 60 62 63 to hand the visitors an early lead.Massu’s defeat was striking as he had an almost perfect record at home, only tarnished by Marat Safin and Igor Andreev in 2007. Minar, however, is outside the world’s Top 200, but produced a performance far better than his ranking might suggest.Minar won the first set in just 31 minutes, and the second in 40 minutes. He played well, although Massu contributed to his own downfall, as 65 per cent of the points ended with an unforced error from the former Olympic gold medalist.The first part of the third set saw a small rise in Massu’s level, but the Chilean lost his serve and his cool, and Minar recorded a comfortable victory.At the start of play, the Chileans were marginal favourites to progress, but they have a mountain to climb now.Related links> DavisCup.tv> Twitter> Tie information> Audio interviews> Scorecards & stats> Massu and Minar to start in Coquimbo> Berdych joins Stepanek on sidelines> Gonzalez ruled out of Czech showdownRelated websites> Informacion en espanol - FTCH> Information in Czech - CTA Related Audio Interview with Ivo Minar (CZE) - Friday If you cannot hear the audio, then please update your media player by following one of the links above.
