Serbia chooses Belgrade to host Czechs
Date published :
26 Jul 2010 - 15:23:23
Serbia chooses Belgrade to host CzechsThe Serbian Tennis Federation has selected the familiar surroundings of the Belgrade Arena for September’s Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group semifinal between Serbia and Czech Republic.Serbia overcame Uzbekistan 5-0 in last year’s World Group play-offs at Belgrade Arena, and also defeated 32-time champions USA 3-2 at the same venue in March. The impressive indoor stadium has a capacity of 18,200 and a hard court is being laid for the visit of the Czechs.Serbia is currently enjoying its best Davis Cup run, having knocked out USA and Croatia to reach the World Group semifinals for the first time. Czech Republic, meanwhile, is bidding to reach the Final for the second consecutive year.Serbia’s victories have been achieved after impressive performances from world No. 2 Novak Djokovic, who is unbeaten in singles play in this year’s campaign. Viktor Troicki has also chipped in with an important win over John Isner and the doubles duo of Nenad Zimonjic and Janko Tipsarevic has provided depth.Czech Republic has progressed to the World Group semifinals following triumphs over Belgium and Chile. The quarterfinal victory over the South Americans was particularly impressive, as it was achieved without the services of the nation’s top two players, Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek, who were both absent through injury.Serbia and Czech Republic have never previously met, although the two nations have faced each other nine times when playing under the flags of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia respectively. The Czechs lead the series 5-4, but they lost the most recent match-up in 1991.In the top half of the draw, France is hosting Argentina at the Palais des Sports de Gerland in Lyon. The World Group semifinal ties are being played from 17-19 September.
