07. 03. 2009. · Photo by Srđan Stevanović (TSS)
Spain leads 2:0 against Serbia in the first round of the Davis Cup World Group.
David Ferrer brought the first point for the home team. He defeated world number three Novak Djokovic in straight sets. The result of the match that lasted 2 hours and 50 minutes was 6:3 6:3 7:6(4).
It was clear before the match that this was going to be much harder task than a week ago in Dubai finals, because Ferrer plays his best on clay, and there’s also the advantage of playing in front of the home crowd.
No.12 in the ATP Rankings broke Novak’s service in the opening game and then held for 2:0. Djokovic won three consecutive games to go up 3:2 and had 2 break points for 4:2, but failed to convert them. He was then punished and got broken twice til the end of the set. Ferrer took it 6:3.
Nole didn’t manage to find his rhythm in the second set, and lost it with the same result, 6:3.
After being down 1:3 in the third set, Djokovic won three games to take a lead 4:3. At 6:5 the best Serbian tennis player had 2 break/set points, but Ferrer held, and the set went to a tie-breaker. Although Novak was the first to make a mini-break, he made several errors that costed him the set and the match.
“There were a lot of factors involved in this match. I don’t want it to see I’m trying to find explanation for my loss, but the fact is I haven’t played a clay court match since May or June last year, and didn’t really have serious practice here; had maybe one or two good practices. I just felt like I’m on a foreign teritory today, I made a lot of unforced errors, and tried to find a rhythm, but it was too late. I think I played better towards the end of the match, especially in the second part of the third set, had some set points. I didn’t use them. David played really solid, and made a very few unforced errors. He deserved to win”, Novak said.
Nole won only 17 of 50 points on his second serve. He made 59 unforced errors, 29 more than his opponent, and hit 37 winners to Ferrer’s 26.
World number one Rafael Nadal won the second point for Spain with an easy victory over Janko Tipsarevic in 1 hour and 35 minutes. The Serb took only 3 games. The result was 6:1 6:0 6:2.
Serbian combination Zimonjic/Troicki defeated local boys Robredo/Lopez 7:6, 6:4, 7:6 to bring the first point for Serbia.
Sunday (Order of play):
10.00 CET Rafael Nadal vs. Novak Djokovic
followed by David Ferrer vs. Janko Tipsarevic
