 Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 09 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 09 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 09 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 09 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 09 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 09 Feb 2008 |
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| 09 Feb 2008 - Small Sports Arena "Luzhniki", Moscow - Chris Bowers - RUS v SRB | |
| Ailing heroes put Serbia back in the hunt |
Eleventh century Spanish history may have little to do with the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, but there was a strong parallel with the legend of El Cid on the second day of the Russia v Serbia World Group tie.
Legend has it that El Cid, a revered Castillian warrior, was so respected by all who knew him that after his death, his wife strapped him to his horse so his mere presence would put fear into his enemies. After missing the opening day’s singles of Serbia’s first-ever World Group tie, Novak Djokovic roused himself from his sickbed and teamed with another ailing warrior, Nenad Zimonjic, to carry Serbia’s hopes into the doubles against Russia. And it worked. Needing to win to keep Serbia’s chances alive, Djokovic and Zimonjic beat Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny 63 76(6) 76(5) to narrow Russia’s lead in the tie to 2-1.
Straight-sets victory beneficial for Serbs
It would be unfair to imply that the Serbs’ reputation alone did the work for them. They both played very well in the two and a half hours the match lasted, but it was clear they were both lacking their usual strength and energy, and the failure of the Russians to force at least a fourth set might prove to be a wonderful break for the visitors.
Ultimately, it was a perfect match for Serbia – Djokovic and Zimonjic always looked the likelier to break, yet they won without ever having to do too much running, something that could come to Djokovic’s aid in Sunday’s singles.
Serbia’s captain Bogdan Obradovic said after the doubles that Djokovic “doesn’t have that much energy, so during the match he was down and up”. And it wasn’t just Djokovic – Zimonjic woke up on Saturday with a slight temperature and feeling pretty dreadful, but the summons to the nation’s cause was all that was needed to bring the best doubles skills out of both men.
Serbs take control of Russian fightback
Needing to keep the match short, they got the perfect start, breaking Tursunov in the second game, and then salvaging Djokovic’s serve from 15-40 down in the third. That proved the last break of serve until the end of the third set, but in retrospect the Russians’ best chance came in the tenth game of the second.
Having saved three break points earlier in the set, they had their first break point at 5-4 on the Djokovic serve, thus a set point. The Serb delivered a powerful first serve that Youzhny couldn’t get back, and when the Serbs won the second-set tiebreak 8-6 having at one stage led 5-2, everything was going well for them.
Even in the third set, the red-clad visitors looked the stronger pair. But disaster struck at 5-5 when Russia broke for the first time in the match. Yet Youzhny’s attempt to serve out the set was met with four spectacular returns from the Serbs, and a second tiebreak loomed. Again the visitors led 5-2, again the Russians pulled back to 5-5, but a Zimonjic forehand down the middle pierced the Russians’ defences, and on the first match point Youzhny put a forehand wide to give Serbia the victory.
Djokovic in, Safin out
After the match, everyone wanted to know how Djokovic was. “As you can see today I was playing and we won,” he said, “so I’m feeling much better than I did in the last couple of days. It’s still not the way I want it to be, but we’re fighting. We came here with the intention to win, and even though we were 2-0 down, we still have good chances.”
Russia’s captain Shamil Tarpischev admitted that his own wounded warrior, Marat Safin, is definitely out of the final day’s singles, as he has a temperature to go with his injured foot. “I am expecting the first match on Sunday to be Davydenko against Djokovic,” Tarpischev said, “and after that, we will have to use our intuition to guess at who will play for Serbia. And then I will choose who will play for Russia: Youzhny or Tursunov.”
Despite suffering from a leg injury, Serbia’s second singles player Janko Tipsarevic practised for a short time after the doubles, and Obradovic said he might choose to play him if necessary in either of Sunday’s singles rubbers. Like the Iberian armies of the 11th century, noone can be quite sure who is fit and who is just bluffing.
Related Links on other websites
> Information in Russian - RTF
Related Links on Daviscup.com
> Tie Information
> Scorecards and stats from this tie
> All not yet lost for fighting Serbia
> Youzhny takes first point for Russia
> Djokovic and Youzhny to start Russia Serbia showdown
Related Audio
 Interview with Novak Djokovic & Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) - day 2
Interview with Bogdan Obradovic (SRB) - day 2
Interview with Dmitry Tursunov & Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) - day 2
Interview with Shamil Tarpischev (RUS) - day 2
 
If you cannot hear the audio, then please update your media player by following one of the links above.
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