Tennis Update: Serbian Novak Djokovic and his Davis Cup hopes
World Number 3 and the strongest player on Serbia’s Davis Cup team, Novak Djokovic addressed the Davis Cup final weekend as “the biggest occasion of our lives.” The US Open finalist is not the only player who is as determined for this year’s Davis Cup; newly-wed
teammate Janko Tipsarevic cut his honeymoon short in order to be better prepared for the matches. While Viktor Troicki (who is scheduled to play doubles with Nenad Zimonjic) opted out of the lucrative BNP Paribas Masters 1000 event, where he could have won
many ranking points, to be fresh and alert for the Davis Cup weekend.
Meanwhile, Novak Djokovic has been unable to concentrate on anything besides the tournament since Serbia scored a win over the Czech Republic team. This is only to be expected, as Djokovic is the main reason behind Serbia’s sudden ascension as a nation with
tennis potential.
That is Serbia’s main problem. The entire team has a great deal of pressure upon itself to win the Davis Cup tie, and they have not made things any easier for themselves. There is a wide variety of factors which could have an enormous effect on their performance.
For one, stress and anxiety are generally bad for players of tennis. Djokovic, for example, has been known to suffer in Grand Slam events due to “breathing problems”. With this in mind, it must be considered that choking is one of the most common breathing
afflictions in tennis, and one which is rampant at the Davis Cup.
Djokovic’s responsibility towards the team, and his own prowess as a player will be severely tested due to French team captain Guy Forget’s decision to slot Gilles Simon as the second place singles player, which makes sure that Michael Llodra is fit to play
at the Saturday doubles match with partner Arnaud Clement.
While Simon may not seem a better candidate for singles than Llodra in any way. Llodra is World Number 23, while Simon is at Number 42. Llodra’s win-loss record against Djokovic is 1-1, with his victory score just weeks ago at the Beijing events. Simon,
meanwhile, has lost four matches to Djokovic (who defeated him recently in Beijing) with only one victory. Hence, Forget’s strategy is obvious: he is attempting to make sure that out of the first three ties, the French team should win at least one.
That goal has already been reached after Gael Monfils upset Tipsarevic in the opening rubber, and if Forget’s strategy is successful, the French will be in a position to win the tournament when the countries’ Number 1 players, Djokovic from Serbia and Monfils
from France, will face each other in the fourth rubber according to ITF rules.
The Belgrade Arena will be an intensely difficult atmosphere for Djokovic, especially if he hopes to keep up his team’s hopes. This is because Tipsarevic against either Simon or Llodra in a fifth rubber is not a guarantee of Serbian victory. If Nole loses
to Monfils, it might dampen the spirits of Tipsarevic, affecting his performance.
However, Djokovic holds a 5 win, 0 loss record against the French Number 1, and was able to demolish him in straight sets at the US Open. Whichever way it is considered, France will have their work cut out for them; perhaps their best asset is their underdog
status, which means they will be more willing to risk it all.
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