Split: Novak Djokovic beat Ivan Ljubicic 7-6 (3), 6-4, 6-1 to give Serbia a 1-0 lead over Balkan rival Croatia in the Davis Cup quarterfinals on Friday.
No. 2-ranked Djokovic, a semifinalist at Wimbledon, squandered a 5-2 lead in the first set but took the tiebreaker with a reflex half-volley. He broke Ljubicic in the ninth game of the second set.
Djokovic broke the 16th-ranked Ljubicic three times in the third set and converted his first match point with a backhand down the line.
"It's good to start with a victory, it gives us a good chance to wrap up the series," Djokovic said.
"The crucial moment in the match was the tiebreaker," he said. "Ljubicic is a dangerous player, and who knows how the match would have developed if I had lost that clincher."
Ljubicic, who returned from a three-year Davis Cup retirement because of injuries to Mario Ancic and Ivo Karlovic, agreed.
"I felt he was a bit nervous in that tiebreaker, but I did not manage to profit by taking too much risk in some points," Ljubicic said.
Ljubicic had 11 double faults and 62 unforced errors, compared to Djokovic's 25 in the 2 hour, 27 minute match.
The two former Yugoslav republics, who fought a war in the 1990s, are meeting for the first time in the Davis Cup.
Croatia won the cup in 2005. Serbia's playing in its first quarterfinals.
Croatia's fans booed and jeered and refused to stand when Serbia's national anthem was played, and some chanted "Kill the Serb" and other rude remarks at Djokovic.
"We had expected the heated atmosphere before we came here, but I'm sorry that some fans behaved the way they did at the start of the match," Djokovic said. "As the match progressed, things got a bit cooler probably because I was leading."
Ljubicic, a good friend of Djokovic, said he was also annoyed by the chants from the crowd. "They affected my concentration just as they did his."
Croatia's Marin Cilic faced Viktor Troicki in the second singles of the best-of-five tie.
Comments
0 comment