Davis Cup (is a) Win For Serbian Tennis
After losing the doubles on Saturday to trail, 1-2 in the 2010 Davis Cup final, Novak Djokovic won his seventh consecutive Davis Cup match beating Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 to even the Tie and then Viktor Troicki beat Michael Llodra 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 to clinch the come
from behind victory for Serbia over France. It was the first Davis Cup title for Serbia, which only joined the World Group in 2008, and had to win playoff matches twice to remain in the World Group. Ironically, Serbia becomes the second unseeded nation to win the Davis Cup and joins another country, i.e. Croatia who were Davis Cup champions in 2005, which was also a member of the former Yugoslavia. Serbia is only the thirteenth country to win the Davis Cup.
Serbian tennis has been in the “big leagues” for the past few years with Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open title followed by Ana Ivanovic’s French Open crown and Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic ascending to Number One. However, with this emotional and thrilling “home” Davis Cup triumph in front of 16,000 screaming fans, Serbian tennis is now poised to move even higher. It’s perfect timing for the announcement that a new national tennis center is also planned for Belgrade. Given the fact that Djokovic, currently ranked third in the world, is only twenty-three, Viktor Troicki is twenty-four, Janko Tipsarevic is twenty-six and Nenad Zimonjic, currently ranked third in doubles, is thirty-four, this is an excellent opportunity to build a strong tennis tradition in Serbia. The Serbian victory, which was clearly led by Novak Djokovic, was also definitely a year-long team effort with Janko Tipsarevic starring in the semis with victories over Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.
To celebrate this historic victory, Djokovic, Tipsarevic, Troicki, Zimonjic, as well as former ATP star and current president of the Serbian Tennis Federation, Slobodan Zivojinovic, and team coach, Niki Pilic, all shaved their heads!
Serbian tennis has been in the “big leagues” for the past few years with Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open title followed by Ana Ivanovic’s French Open crown and Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic ascending to Number One. However, with this emotional and thrilling “home” Davis Cup triumph in front of 16,000 screaming fans, Serbian tennis is now poised to move even higher. It’s perfect timing for the announcement that a new national tennis center is also planned for Belgrade. Given the fact that Djokovic, currently ranked third in the world, is only twenty-three, Viktor Troicki is twenty-four, Janko Tipsarevic is twenty-six and Nenad Zimonjic, currently ranked third in doubles, is thirty-four, this is an excellent opportunity to build a strong tennis tradition in Serbia. The Serbian victory, which was clearly led by Novak Djokovic, was also definitely a year-long team effort with Janko Tipsarevic starring in the semis with victories over Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek.
To celebrate this historic victory, Djokovic, Tipsarevic, Troicki, Zimonjic, as well as former ATP star and current president of the Serbian Tennis Federation, Slobodan Zivojinovic, and team coach, Niki Pilic, all shaved their heads!
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