2010 Davis Cup Final: Serbia ties up with France
First day of the 2010 Davis Cup (DC) Final wrapped up with both teams levelled at 1-1 in the score. The last tennis event of the year is currently underway at Belgrade where Serbia hosts France with the former making its debut
in the final.
Serbia previously marked a close 3-2 win over the Czech Republic in the semis. Enjoying the home crowd advantage, Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic did away with Czech Radek Stepanek to take Serbia into the finals.
France, on the other hand, moved into the finals after enjoying a perfect 5-0 mark against the Russians. Also enjoying the support of the local crowd, France won all her four singles and one doubles match to secure its place in
the final.
Kicking off play for the day was French Gael Monfils as he was pitted against Tipsarevic. France’s highest ranked player brought out not only the highest ranked Serb, but also the most experienced one. Completing his decade at
the DC this year, Tipsarevic is a veteran at this ITF (International Tennis Federation) event. However, experience fell short when it came to skills. Monfils did away with the Serb in three straight sets winning the match 6-1, 7-6(4), 6-0. Monfils win took
France 1-0 in the lead against Serbia.
Instead of capitalizing on the home court advantage, Tipsarevic got under pressure because of it. This pressure got to the Serb affecting his performance in his match. Talking about it he said, “It gave him [Gael] the mental
edge that he knew that I was also nervous. He was a better player than me. I’m disappointed by the way that I lost; it was really easier than I thought it would be. The general problem today was that I was feeling on court like I was missing matches.”
Tipsarevic’s defeat put much pressure on the number one Serb, Novak Djokovic as the latter took to the courts to play the second match of the day. However, this pressure never got to the Serb. Playing against 42 ranked Gilles Simon,
Djokovic enjoyed statistical advantages in every sense possible. Be it title wins, win-loss marks, ranking or their head-to-head score; Djokovic led tremendously in all of them. In a match that lasted two hours and eighteen minutes, Djokovic enjoyed a 6-3,
6-1, 7-5 win over Simon.
Delighted to have performed well, Djokovic acknowledge the crowd for their support. Though he outclassed Simon in every sense possible, the Serb was still humble in victory. Talking about his match with Simon, Djokovic said, “Nothing
is easy, even though results-wise it was 6-3, 6-1 in the first two sets. At this level you’ve got to be on top of your game to win these matches. I felt pressure and expectation, but that’s normal, it’s the Davis Cup final and the first time for Serbia to
be in such an occasion.”
With the number one Serb thrashing the French, Serbia went into a finely poised 1-1 tie with France. As the doubles take to the courts on Saturday in an extremely crucial match, both teams will be giving it their all to go one
up in the score.
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