Djokovic puts Serbs ahead

The opening singles rubber at this truly electric Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group play-off tie has given Serbia, a fresh powerhouse in world tennis, a 1-0 lead over 28-time former champion Australia as Novak Djokovic overcame young Peter Luczak61 64 62.

In a rousing atmosphere to be envied by any sporting competition, Djokovic took the first set in 35 minutes, only dropping one point on his serve. As the Serb’s long string of winners and aces kept pressure on the young Australian, he held his own as much as he could despite his erring backhands and recurring double-faults. The scoreline may read like an easy take for Djokovic but Luczak stretched him where he could and denied him four breakpoints in what seemed like an interminable third game.

But keeping up with the never-ending arsenal of forehands and backhands fired by the Serbian tennis sensation, not to mention his game-closing, perfectly timed aces, proved too much for the nervous Luczak who eventually conceded the set 61. The Australian admitted later that Djokovic’s serve was key today. “He came up with some big serves when I had him under pressure,” he said after the match.
Luczak improves in second set

The second set on the other hand could not have been more different, except for that third game which again turned out to be the longest. This time, though, Luczak did not drop his serve and held on to it with all his power until the ninth game, chasing every ball, coming in to the net and putting away a string of winners. Djokovic had no apparent problems winning his own serve but Luczak gave him no chance to steal points from him, putting up an inspired and commendable fight against the world’s third ranked player. Djokovic admitted later that he was “more nervous than in the US Open final playing in front of this crowd” and that this may have turned the tables in the Australian’s favour at this stage. But at 4-4 something seemed to go missing and Luczak’s concentration slipped sharply, as he missed an easy forehand to fall behind 4-5 and then lose the set 6-4.

The inspiration that kept Luczak going in the second set unfortunately did not last much longer. He had two break points in the second game of the third set but a combination of Djokovic’s mastery of aces and his own forehand errors meant that he was never able to present a real threat to the fired-up Djokovic. He did however test everyone’s nerves in the sixth game when Djokovic’s mistakes created four openings to break the Serb. But Djokovic showed us all how and why he has neared the top of the world rankings in such a short time, fighting off the break points by forcing Luczak to err and launching two consecutive aces to put himself ahead 4-2. He then proceeded to steer the crowd into raucous applause to fire himself up to break Luczak again, though only doing so on his third opportunity. A couple of crosscourt winners later and victory was his 61 64 62.
Djokovic received a huge welcome

After a truly spectacular entry into the modern and fully packed Beogradska Arena ahead of the match where the adoring crowds gave Djokovic a long standing ovation, the home support was evident throughout, brightened also by the presence of Serbia’s president Boris Tadic and several other politicians and sport celebrities. From brass and drum bands to the loud cheer of fifty children from Kosovo that Djokovic’s family is hosting this weekend, the show in the stands was complete, directed at times by Djokovic’s father himself. And the adored sensation did not let anyone down, admitting that “it was a special feeling playing in front of this crowd. Davis Cup is such a completely different competition, it is not like an individual tournament” and so winning the opening rubber meant that “things were going according to script so far.”

A lot will depend now on Lleyton Hewitt’s performance against Janko Tipsarevic and much hangs in the balance still. The two players have met twice before with the honours split. Though Hewitt seemed confident yesterday that Tipsarevic only really has the home court advantage on his side, he will have to stay strong and block out not only the pressure of coming from 0-1 down in tie but the deafening support of the crowds and the low-bouncing clay court not necessarily suited to his game.