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 Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 10 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 10 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 10 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 10 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 10 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 10 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 10 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 10 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 10 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 10 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 10 Feb 2008 |  Photographer: Srdjan Stevanovic
Date: 10 Feb 2008 |
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| 10 Feb 2008 - Small Sports Arena "Luzhniki", Moscow - Chris Bowers - RUS v SRB | |
| Exhausted and dizzy Djokovic retires to give Russia win |
The Russians are through to the quarterfinals of the 2008 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, but in a way noone would have wanted. And yet somehow, at the end of a tie that had as much intrigue off the court as on it, the end was almost as fitting as it was unfortunate.
The record books will record that Nikolay Davydenko defeated Novak Djokovic 46 36 64 retired, but those numbers alone cannot tell the story. Having battled flu-like symptoms all week, Djokovic knew he would be short of energy. For 2½ sets he played well enough to win, occasionally brilliantly, but having failed to win the third set, he threw in the towel, complaining of dizziness and general exhaustion. He went straight from the Luzhniki arena to his hotel, and from there to a local hospital.
The dramatic end, after Djokovic had led 3-0 in the third set with a double break, robbed the tie of a live fifth rubber that looked likely for much of the two-hour 40-minute match. It also left the best crowd of the week somewhat non-plussed, and deprived of a true moment of triumph to crown the best atmosphere of the tie. Yet the several thousand spectators will know they witnessed some very impressive tennis between the third- and fourth-best players in the world.
Djokovic shows why he is Grand Slam champ
At times Djokovic resembled Pete Sampras, who in long matches would often look as if he was running on his last reserves, but only between points – as soon as the ball was in play, it was as it he was at full fitness. After playing a measured first set, taken when he claimed the first break of the match at 5-4, Djokovic looked particularly vulnerable at 2-1 in the second set. The two players had just exchanged breaks of serve. After losing the 30-all point, Djokovic threw his wrist band away in disgust. His body language did not inspire hope for the Serbs, and even though he held serve, he called for the team masseur to give his legs a boost.
Whatever the masseur did was little short of miraculous. In the next two games, Djokovic unleashed his best tennis of the match, looking every bit a Grand Slam champion as he made the world No 4 look pedestrian. A third successive break of the Davydenko serve was followed by a sublime game for 4-1, which seemed to signal the end of the match.
It wasn’t, in fact Davydenko really should have got back on level terms. Djokovic began flexing his right ankle and breathing heavily, clearly having a “down” phase in his fluctuating energy levels. As he served for the set at 5-3, Davydenko got to 0-40, and on the first break point had a high forehand volley with Djokovic stranded. When it went into the net, that was it for Davydenko, as Djokovic safely negotiated another three break points before taking the hour-long set.
Davydenko fights back
Another rush of energy saw Djokovic open up a 3-0 lead in the third set with a double break. That was the point at which Davydenko found his most consistent tennis and – though no-one knew it at the time – Djokovic began to realise that if he didn’t win it in three sets, he wasn’t going to win at all. Cutting out the errors that had sabotaged his game for the first two sets, the Russian got one break back, and should have got the second when he missed five break points at 2-3. But he scored two games later, levelling the set at 4-4.
Serving to stay in the set at 4-5, Djokovic squandered a 40-15 lead. With Davydenko at set point, the Russian hit a backhand down the line, which caught the corner of baseline and sideline and trotted enthusiastically to his chair. Seconds later, Djokovic was shaking hands with him and leaving the stadium before most people realised what had happened. It took another minute before umpire Fergus Murphy’s announcement that Russia had won on a retirement.
“I think he still has his confidence from the Australian Open,” said Davydenko of Djokovic, “he was hitting the ball well from the baseline, but after four days of not playing I know physically he’s not so good, and when you see that we played two hours 40 minutes, for me that’s OK, but for him, you know he was feeling it after the third set, so maybe he was already very tired.”
Asked what he did when 0-3 down in the third set, the Russian said: “I tried playing just for fun to just get my confidence.” He should have more fun, perhaps starting when Russia hosts the Czech Republic, probably in Moscow in April.
...and Troicki finishes with debut win
The final scoreline in Moscow sat at 3-2, after Viktor Troicki followed up his five-set thriller with Davydenko on Friday with victory over Dmitry Tursunov in the fifth dead rubber. Troicki served seven aces to Tursunov's zero in the first set to come through the tiebreak 9-7. The Russian came back to win the second set and push a third and final set but the Serb newcomer's reliable serve allowed him to seal the match 76 46 63.
Related Links on other websites
> Information in Russian - RTF
Related Links on Daviscup.com
> Tie Information
> Scorecards and stats from this tie
> Ailing heroes put Serbia back in the hunt
> 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 Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) - day 3
Interview with Novak Djokovic (SRB) - day 3
Interview with Victor Troicki (SRB) - day 3
 
If you cannot hear the audio, then please update your media player by following one of the links above.
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