Novak Djokovic not to play Davis Cup tie against Sweden – Tennis News
World number one, Novak Djokovic, will not lead the Serbian squad in the Davis Cup tie to be played this month. The Serb captain, Bogdan Obradovic, announced that Djokovic has been given rest and will not be a part of Team Serbia
in the Davis Cup tie against Sweden. World number nine, Janko Tipsarevic and 22nd ranked Viktor Troicki will be the spearhead of the Serbian team in the absence of Djokovic.
The contest will be played on the indoor hard courts of Hala Cair, Nis, Serbia, from 10th to the 12th of February. The ever-excited Serbian crowd will be cheering their heroes to take down the bleak Swede
squad, which is led by 346th ranked Michael Ryderstedt. It is expected that the top-class Serbian squad will take down their opponents with the utmost ease and it is wise to give rest to Djokovic for his upcoming tournaments.
“We want to spare Djokovic to help him remain the world's No1 player and win gold at the Olympic Games in London”, Obradovic told the local press reporters. “I had difficultly (persuading) Djokovic not to play against Sweden, but
I think we can beat them even without him.”
The world number one had a gruelling six-hour battle with the second ranked Spaniard, Rafael Nadal, in the epic Australian Open final last week. The intense play took a huge toll out of Djokovic and he was barely able to stand
after the match was finally over. The hard-fought victory has prompted the top ranked Serb to take short lay-off form the game and get his body some rest to break back in the winning circle with the same aggression.
Davis Cup tie against Sweden will not be a big challenge for Team Serbia, especially with Tipsarevic and Troicki leading the attack. Both teams went one-on-one against each other in the Davis Cup World Group quarter-finals, with
the defending champions at that time, Serbia, winning assertively by 4-1. It is anticipated that with such strong squad, Team Serbia will register a 5-0 whitewash victory over the Swedish underdogs to take off this year’s Davis Cup campaign in style.
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