BOISE, Idaho: Novak Djokovic got Serbia off to a hot start, but American Sam Querrey’s gritty victory over Viktor Troicki saw the United States pull level on the opening day of their Davis Cup World Group quarter-final tie.
World No. 1 Djokovic beat big-serving John Isner in straight sets in the first singles match, recovering from an early break in the first set en route to a 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 7-5 triumph.
The Serbian player saved the only break point he faced in the third set -- in the second game -- and broke Isner at love for a 6-5 advantage.
He served out the match with a love game, wrapping it up in two hours with a backhand winner that sent him dancing over to celebrate with his teammates.
Isner had made a quick start, breaking Djokovic for a 2-1 lead in the first set and holding for 3-1. But Djokovic found his rhythm on the indoor hard court in the Taco Bell Arena in Boise, which sits at an altitude of about 800 meters (2,600 feet), and broke back to level the set at 3-3.
Djokovic delivered a second-serve ace to take a 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker and claimed the first set on his third set point when Isner knocked a backhand long.
Serbian captain Bogdan Obradovic had called on Troicki for singles duty after world No. 10 Janko Tipsarevic opted out of the tie. The winner will take on the victor of the quarter-final tie between Canada and Italy in Vancouver.
Meanwhile, Andrey Golubev and Yuriy Schukin defeated Czech pair Jan Hajek and Radek Stepanek in Saturday’s doubles in Astana to keep Kazakhstan’s hopes of reaching the Davis Cup semi-finals alive.
The hosts won 7-6 (7/2), 6-4, 6-3 in two hours 20 minutes to make it 2-1 in their quarter-final encounter against the tournament holders.
“It was a hard match but it makes the victory even more sweet,” Schukin said.
In Bangalore, India, veteran Leander Paes led from the front as India seized a decisive 3-0 lead over Indonesia yesterday to avoid relegation in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania tie.
Paes, taking part in his 50th Cup tie, partnered Sanam Singh to an easy 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 win over the Indonesian pair of Elbert Sie and David Susanto in Bangalore.
The win extended India’s unbeaten run against Indonesia in Davis Cup ties to 6-0 and ensured they remain in the zonal group one next year. Indonesia will have to defeat Taiwan in September to avoid being relegated to group two. Paes, who turns 40 in June, played with the same enthusiasm that marked his Davis Cup debut in 1990. He has so far played 120 matches in the tournament with a 48-22 record in singles and 40-10 in doubles.
Paes, who won a singles bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics before becoming a formidable doubles player, said he felt fit enough to look forward to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“My passion for the game and the privilege of representing India are the biggest motivating factors for me,” he said. “I feel good enough to play for another three years.”
India had won both the opening singles in straight sets on Friday with Somdev Devvarman beating Wisnu Adi Nugroho and Yuki Bhambri taking care of Christopher Rungkat.
In Tashkent, former world number one Lleyton Hewitt inspired Australia to a five-set doubles victory to take the edge over Uzbekistan in the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Group one second round tie in Namangan yesterday.
Hewitt, rested from Friday’s opening singles, partnered Matthew Ebden to battle out a 7-5, 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over the Uzbek pairing of Denis Istomin and Farrukh Dustov.
The hard-fought win gave the 28-time Davis Cup winners Australia a 2-1 edge heading into today’s two reverse singles to decide the tie on clay.
The winner of the tie advances to September’s World Group playoffs as Australia bid to return to the competition’s top tier for the first time since 2007.
Hewitt, the former Wimbledon and US Open champion, was playing with Ebden for the first time. They were the fresher pair after Istomin and Dustov were backing up from playing in Friday’s singles. Agencies
