Doubles is key for Serbia
Date published :
13 Jul 2010 - 09:35:54
Doubles is key for SerbiaDuring this quarterfinal round of the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group we have seen the importance of having a dedicated doubles team. France, who beat the holders, Spain, so emphatically, have one and so do Serbia. The latter, who have reached this stage of the competition for the first time in its history after a famous victory over neighbours Croatia, is hoping it will be the deciding factor in its match against Czech Republic in September. The Czechs rely heavily upon Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek, often to the exclusion of Lukas Dlouhy, even though he is a top ranked doubles player, whereas Serbia has a genuine four-man team and share the workload around. Janko Tipsarevic, who is developing a keen understanding with arguably the best doubles player in the world, Nenad Zimonjic, is wondering if this is a weakness in the opposition that they can exploit.They have Dlouhy who, I think, is five in the world in doubles and [Frantisek] Cermak who is Top 20, but they tend and this surprises me to play Berdych and Stepanek in doubles and they don’t give them time to rest,” he said. It’s been working good for them because most of the doubles they play they win, but having Novak [Djokovic] and Nenad [Zimonjic] in our team is a huge advantage. I really want to see what happens if Stepanek has a long fight with Novak [on day one]. Are they still going to play him in the doubles the next day”The other factor in Serbia’s favour is that they are at home and that, said Tipsarevic, is a big, big advantage”. The tie will almost certainly be staged in the vast Belgrade Arena which can hold more than 20,000 people huge for an indoor arena. Undoubtedly the hero of the hour in Split was Djokovic, who won both his singles rubbers in straight sets. He had come to the Dalmatian coast straight from reaching the Wimbledon semifinals with little or no preparation. He totally dominated Marin Cilic in the decisive fourth rubber with an almost faultless display of aggressive tennis. It would have been interesting to see what would have happened had it gone to a fifth rubber because in such a highly-charged atmosphere Croatia’s No. 2, Ivan Ljubicic, would have been most people’s favourite to beat Viktor Troicki. Goran Prpic, the Croatian captain, was left lamenting other things like the absence of Ivo Karlovic and Mario Ancic. But no one can dispute that the Serbians deserved their victory and their mental toughness was something to be admired, as was their power of concentration which the Croatian crowd did its level best to disturb.That pleasure will now be all the Czechs. Djokovic has won both his matches on hard courts against Berdych, but Tipsarevic warned: No matter which surface we choose it’s going to be a pretty open and very hard match providing Berdych and Stepanek play.”The 31-year-old Stepanek seems to save his best for Davis Cup these days and will realise this could be his last chance of Davis Cup glory, having lost out in last year’s Final to Spain. But Djokovic is 5-1 in head-to-heads, has youth on his side and is fiercely patriotic. As well as that, he also has the small matter of a recent Wimbledon semifinal defeat against Berdych to avenge.Related links> DavisCup.tv> Twitter> Tie information> Audio interviews> Scorecards & stats> Serbia makes history in Split> Serbia in driving seat after doubles win> Cilic draws Croatia level> Ljubicic returns to face Djokovic> 'A memory for life' - Cilic> Troicki targets semifinal spot> Ljubicic answers Croatian callRelated websites> Information from Croatia
