Survived against Djokovic: the Russian national tennis team for the first time in 11 years reached the Davis Cup semifinal

Successful performance and a million for the playoffs

Fans were waiting for the match with Serbia with great interest, because the Russian men's team managed to pleasantly surprise. Despite the absence of Daniil Medvedev and a limited roster, the team made it to the quarterfinals of the tournament, where it got to one of the main favorites. At the stage of the group stage, the wards of Shamil Tarpishchev confidently outplayed the Croats, and then lost to the Spaniards with Rafael Nadal in the squad. However, this was enough to get into the top two teams that took second places and break into the playoffs.

By the way, for their success, the domestic team earned a lot of money. Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev received $ 1 million from the organizers for two, and the Russian Tennis Federation - $ 600 thousand. Accordingly, in the event of new victories, the amount of the fee could only increase.

In turn, Serbia, with Novak Djokovic at the head, turned out to be stronger than France and Japan and took first place in Group A. So Russia got an extremely difficult opponent. And the winner of this confrontation was to meet in the semifinals with Canada, which a little earlier knocked Australia out of the fight.

Rublev’s victory and Khachanov’s defeat

The first to enter the court was Rublev, whose rival was Philip Krainovich. And Andrew did not leave an opponent a single chance. The 22nd racket of the planet confidently started the match and immediately took ten points in a row, and also made two breaks. The Serb was able to get hold of the first points on his serve only in the fourth game. As a result, Rublev took the first set with a crushing score - 6: 1, and his advantage in actively won balls was impressive (11: 0).

In the second installment, the picture has not changed. Andrei still looked an order of magnitude stronger than Krainovich and did everything much faster. He allowed himself to relax a bit only at the score 4-0, when he first lost his pitch. However, Rublev did not waste his energy in vain, mindful of the pair, and soon put a confident point - 6: 2. At the same time, Rublev became the first tennis player of the Davis Cup-2019, who won three matches in singles.

“I am very pleased with my performance and really happy to bring the first point to my team. Karen will have a tough match, so I really needed to win my meeting. Let's see what happens next, ”Rubleva quotes the official website of the Davis Cup.

Unfortunately, Khachanov did not cope with Djokovic. Karen struggled to make one of the best tennis players in the world worthy of competition, but in the key episodes, he turned out to be more accurate and stronger. A large number of errors also affected. Karen allowed blots on his pitch in almost every game of the second set. Novak, on the contrary, confidently served and used his chances.

In the first installment, everything was decided by the Serb break in the fourth game. He led - 3: 1 and did not miss his. In turn, Khachanov had break points in the third and fifth games, but did not implement them and lost - 3: 6. The second set ended with a similar score. This time, an equal fight went on until the fifth game, and then Khachanov gave up four games in a row, including allowing the opponent to make two breaks.

Thus, the fate of the confrontation was to be decided in doubles. And the Serbs took a desperate step: they included their leader Djokovic instead of Janko Tipsarevich in a duet with Viktor Troitsky. Such a move, of course, added class to the opponent, but Novak himself had to go to court tired. However, the same could be said about Khachanov.

Djokovic injury and three played matchballs

As a result, fans witnessed a truly exciting confrontation in which no one wanted to concede. The first set was left to the Russians, who were able to show character. In the fourth game, the Serbs made a break and led - 3: 2. But Khachanov and Rublev instantly answered their own, and then took three more games in a row. Opponents could not recover from such a blow and were forced to capitulate.

The second batch took shape according to a similar scenario. The Russians again conceded, but managed in a difficult moment to take someone else's feed. Unfortunately, at a crucial moment, Andrey and Karen wavered. And Djokovic, with a score of 5: 4 in favor of his team, needed the help of a doctor. The second racket of the planet was troubled by an elbow. However, returning to the court, he almost single-handedly forced his opponents to capitulate.

In the final set, the tennis players already tried once again not to take risks and confidently took their innings. The only exception was the fifth game, in which Djokovic and Troitsky played a double break point on their serve, and the tenth, when Rublev and Khachanov made their way to 0:30, before they came to their senses.

In the end, everything was decided on a tie-break, which came out incredibly nervous. Suffice it to say that the rivals lost 11 innings out of 18. Serbs earned matchballs three times, but none of them could be realized. To the delight of the public, the Russians heroically recouped them. When Andrei and Karen led themselves, Djokovic faltered. So the Russian team pulled out a victory with a score of 10: 8 and for the first time in 11 years made it to the semis of the Davis Cup.