Italy and Australia will play in the Davis Cup Final.
Davis Cup Team of Serbia lost to Italy 1-2 in their semifinal tie on Saturday.
Kecmanovic got Serbia the first point in the semi-final, coming back from a set down to defeat Lorenzo Musetti 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-1.
World no.1 Novak Djokovic then had a chance to book Serbia’s place in the Davis Cup final, the first since 2013, when he took on Italian no.1 player Jannik Sinner.
Unfortunately, the Serbian star suffered a 2-6, 6-2, 5-7 loss in a pulsating battle.
Sinner won the opening set convincingly. He broke Novak in the third game of the match and followed with another break in the fifth game to take the lead in just 38 minutes.
Novak regrouped quickly, and with two breaks of serve, in the fourth and eighth games, levelled the contest at 1-1.
The match was decided in the third set, which was a great battle until the very end. Leading 5-4, Djokovic had three consecutive break/match points, but he could not convert any of them. The Italian equalised the score at 5-all and broke Novak’s serve, then closed it out to give his team hope ahead of the doubles.
Novak came back shortly after to team up with Miomir Kecmanovic in their doubles match to play against Jannik Sinner and Lorenzo Sonego (3-6, 4-6).
The Italians broke in the sixth game to take the first set. They converted another break point early in the second set, but Nole and Miomir fought back immediately to level at 2-2. The Serbian team failed to capitalise on four break points in the sixth game, and the punishment came right after. They faced two break points in the seventh game, the second was used by Sinner and Sonego, who grabbed the opportunity. Three games later the Italian duo served out the match.
“Obviously, this is a tough one to swallow,” said Novak. “I was really trying to hype myself and encourage myself for this week. Throughout the entire season, my thoughts were this week with my team. I tried to contribute. I did in the first tie, but today it wasn’t meant to be.”
Photo: Profimedia
