Translated material
Score by weather
The Russian team defeated the Serbs in the first round of the Davis Cup
The Russian team won the opening match of the 1/8 finals of the Davis Cup at the Small Sports Arena of Luzhniki. The Russians, two-time winners of the prestigious trophy, defeated the Serbian quartet led by Novak Djokovic, nicknamed Zero (for his style of cutting his hair short). The fate of the meeting was decided in the fourth singles match, in which Nikolay Davydenko, surprisingly, took only one set. With the score 4:6, 3:6, 6:4 in his favor, Djokovic refused to continue the fight due to illness. Thus, Shamil Tarpishchev’s team has reached the quarterfinals of the tournament, which will be held on April 11-13 in Moscow, where they will meet the Czech team.The Russians initially had a real chance of completing this opening match of the Davis Cup ahead of schedule. After the first day the hosts were leading 2:0. First, Mikhail Youzhny beat Nenad Zimonzhich - 2:6, 6:3, 6:2, 6:4, and then Nikolay Davydenko dealt with Viktor Troicki - 6:1, 1:6, 6:3, 1:6, 6:2. However, on Saturday, the Serbian duo Novak Djokovic - Nenad Zimonzic defeated Dmitry Tursunov and Mikhail Youzhny - 6:3, 7:6 (8:6), 7:6 (7:5). This Serbian victory could have changed the course of the entire match, however, fortunately for Tarpishchev and his team, this did not happen.
The debutants of the World Group, the Serbs, did not have enough luck and health to reach the next round. First, the name of the second Serbian number Janko Tipsarevic disappeared from the starting application. The reason for this was stomach problems, after which, according to Serbian captain Bogdan Obradovic, the athlete’s leg injuries worsened. Then the flu took down Novak Djokovic, which is why he was unable to take the court on the first day. Nenad Zimonzic had to take the rap for the leader. But he was not entirely healthy either. After losing the match to Mikhail Youzhny, the Serb admitted that he played with a fever. But there was no one to replace the tennis player. The only one from the Serbian quartet who did not end up in the “infirmary” was Viktor Troicki. But Troitsky, who, by the way, has Russian roots (his grandparents fled from Russia to Serbia during the revolution, where they settled), complained that on the day of his arrival in his historical homeland he felt some kind of malaise, but, thank God , the fate of the patient passed him by.
Considering all these circumstances, the tennis match between the Serbs and the Russians was more reminiscent of a chess game played by two captains. The bet on healthy players and the effect of surprise forced everyone to come up with non-trivial moves and vary the lineups. So, on the first day, the Serbs replaced Djokovic with Zimonjic. In the second, the Russians played Mikhail Youzhny instead of Marat Safin and Dmitry Tursunov. On the third day, journalists joked that Djokovic and Tipsarevic, as well as Davydenko and Safin, would take to the court. But, as it turned out later, the flu was added to Safin’s injury - damaged ankle muscles. Due to the high temperature - 39 degrees, as Nikolai Davydenko spoke about, Marat could not even come to the match just to support the team. And it was for this reason that he was not on our team’s bench.
It is possible that in this situation, the Serbs initially adhered to a tactic where on the first day the “understudies” exhaust the Russian leaders, then a turning point occurs in the doubles match, after which, with fresh forces, they can count on success. The plan was risky, but they had no choice. For the Russians, the preferable scenario was to complete the fight within two days. And in the doubles match, Tursunov and Yuzhny were quite close to scoring a winning point. After losing the first set, the score in the other two was almost equal all the time. However, neither Tursunov nor Yuzhny could clearly explain the reasons for the defeat after the game.
Journalists waited for the Russian duo for about half an hour. “Why are you all turning around like students at school?” - Tursunov muttered, entering the press conference room. When asked what was the decisive moment in the doubles duel, Tursunov did not answer directly. He referred to the fact that he and Yuzhny had never played with the Serbs. That Novak is on the rise after the Australian Open, and when a tennis player is on the rise, he even begins to hit shots that he couldn’t hit before. That Zimonzic is a good doubles player, and Djokovic, even if he was sick, had someone to follow, someone to rely on. That it is difficult for an unplayed pair to demonstrate effective play on the court, but he and Yuzhny play together once or twice a year. When asked why Safin, who was specially preparing for the doubles match, did not come out in this case, Tursunov did not know. “Probably Marat is not ready to play at full strength. But I didn't ask him about it. I came, they told me that I was playing with Misha, I answered: “Okay,” and played,” he said.
Only the most persistent correspondents waited for the press conference with the Serbian duo. Djokovic was clearly in no hurry to talk to the press. Nevertheless, he answered questions a lot and willingly. “Strange things are happening to me in Russia,” he said, without pausing and not paying attention to the interpreter. - I caught a viral infection. But this is not only yours, it is common in Europe. Having fallen ill, I tried to recover as quickly as possible, but this takes time. The illness took a lot of strength and energy from me, but I still went on the court. The most important thing for us was to finish the doubles match quickly, in three sets, because Nenad and I were not one hundred percent ready. I can't promise anything on Sunday. It will be very difficult to beat your tennis players who have not lost at home for so long,” Djokovic said.
However, after these words it became obvious: Djokovic will play. The stake was too great: after a 15-year break, to reach the World Group and lay down arms in the first match. “We were unlucky with the net. We faced a strong opponent,” Djokovic will say at the final press conference. His energy was only enough for three sets. By the end of the second, it was already noticeable that the Serb gave his all. A tennis player with a strong and clean game on the back line, Djokovic increasingly began to go to the net, making ridiculous mistakes, and at times it seemed that he did not know what to oppose to his opponent. “To be honest, I was surprised when Djokovic abandoned the game,” Davydenko admitted after the match. - During our meeting, I did not notice that he had problems. We played three sets that lasted three hours." Davydenko also explained that Djokovic practically did not train in Moscow and his opponent’s desire to win in three sets was understandable; he would not have been able to do more. When the Russian played noticeably better in the third set, the Serbian leader refused to continue. By the way, as Djokovic later admitted, he initially did not rule out such a turn of events. But he doesn’t consider his decision to take the court on Sunday wrong.
According to Davydenko, what happened to Djokovic could have been predicted. “He flew here from Australia, where the temperature was about 30. Such a sharp drop, plus he won the tournament, which means he is at the peak of his form. In this state it is very easy to get sick. In general, our Russian weather helped us this time,” sums up Davydenko.
At the press conference, Russian journalists will give him a bottle of exclusive Djokovic vodka to cheer Djokovic up. He will thank and call Russian tennis players brothers. Meanwhile, on the Luzhniki court, Dmitry Tursunov will sort things out with Viktor Troitsky. But this last match will no longer be able to influence the final score of the meeting.