Serbia vs Czech Republic Davis Cup semi-final preview
All eyes will be on how Novak Djokovic bounces back from losing the US Open final on Monday for Serbia’s Davis Cup semi-final clash against last year’s runners-up, the Czech Republic.
The world No. 2 has been his country’s key player in their 2010 campaign, where he’s so far amassed an unbeaten 4-0 record in singles rubbers this year and is 18-6 across his career, and it’s hard to imagine that changing when Serbia play their Davis Cup first semi-final over the next three days.
Djokovic’s two singles victories over Sam Querrey and John Isner were key to the Serb’s win over the USA, but the importance of Serbian No. 3 Viktor Troicki’s four set win over Isner to begin the tie also cannot be underestimated.
It won’t be lost on either team that the Czech Republic heads into semi-finals with their two top players having underperformed in their most recent matches
Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek both missed the 4-1 Czechs’ quarter-final win over Chile but are back for this one.
Despite his inglorious first-round exit from the US Open at the hands of the unseeded Michael Llodra, seventh ranked Berdych has still been one of the success stories of 2010, reaching his maiden Grand Slam semi-final at the French Open (lost to eventual runner-up Robin Soderling) and defeating Roger Federer in the Wimbledon quarter-finals before finishing as runner-up to Rafael Nadal at the All England Club.
The match between Berdych and Djokovic (scheduled as the first singles rubber on day three) in this semi-final tie presents a tantalising prospect. Berdych defeated a lacklustre Djokovic in the Wimbledon semi-finals , but Djokovic holds a 2-1 winning record over the 25-year-old, with both his victories coming on hard courts.
That’s the surface Serbia have elected to play their semi-final on, and with the Belgrade crowd behind him, surely Djokovic has to have the edge in their Davis Cup rubber.
Stepanek is another story. The 31-year-old was a relatively late-bloomer on the singles scene, but after doubling his career total of titles (to four) in 2009, his injury-interrupted 2010 has been underwhelming, as he has largely struggled to progress beyond the first and second rounds on the ATP Tour.
New Haven marked a return to form of sorts for the world No. 35, as he played his way through qualifying and into the quarter-finals where for the second straight match 47th ranked Troicki stopped him in his tracks.
Troicki though has not been named in the singles for Serbia, who have at this point given that responsibility to their No. 2, Janko Tipsarevic, the player who knocked ninth seed Andy Roddick out of the US Open in the second round.
Tipsarevic will face Berdych in the second rubber of the tie, with Djokovic to play Stepanek in the first.
Djokovic and Tipsarevic will be supported in their efforts by Serbia’s most successful Davis Cup doubles player Nenad Zimonjic, who will partner with Troicki for that rubber against Czech pair Jan Hajek and Ivo Minar.
Prediction: Reaching back-to-back finals with Stepanek in such ragged form and against a Serbian team including a firing, if perhaps a little weary, Djokovic may prove to be a task beyond the Czechs.
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