Novak Djokovic made his first appearance since pulling out of his Dubai Open quarter final clash with Feliciano Lopez because of an eye condition. The Serb only fully recovered from this issue a couple of days before Serbia’s opening Davis Cup meeting with Kazakhstan in Belgrade but showed no signs of not being fully fit as he brushed apart Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 for his 28th singles win (31st including doubles) in this competition. “I felt great, no problem. It’s behind me, so I’m looking forward to playing doubles tomorrow“, said the world number one.
Nedovyesov was never a match for his opponent, who displayed his usual variety of shots, including a perfect balance between intelligent slice strokes and thunderous forehands. The homs fans were spurred on by their local idol and created a typically warm Davis Cup atmosphere in which few players, Nedovyesov not being one of them, would be able to find a way to draw out something positive.
Credit must also go to Kazakhstan’s travelling fans, who did their utmost to try and make their player feel at home despite not being able to bridge the visible gap in talent on court. In the end, Djokovic got Serbia off to a winning start before heading back to back his teammate Viktor Troicki against Mikhail Kukushkin. “Getting off to a 2-0 lead is crucial, we’ve played many Davis Cup ties before and we understand that there is a significant difference between 1-1 and 2-0. I’m just glad that I managed to get the first point”, remarked Djokovic.
Unfortunately for the world number one and the home fans, that wasn’t to be the case as Mikhail Kukushkin crashed the party in the second rubber. The Russian born player is as unpredictable as he is dangerous, possessing frighteningly powerful ground strokes which he chooses to play regardless of the pace and depth with which he receives the ball. All in all this creates a player who skates on a thin line that separates numerous unforced errors from umpteen winners and today it was the latter. Viktor Troicki couldn’t find a way to mix things up and get back into the match but most importantly only managed to convert three out of twelve break points. The result of all these factors was a 7-5, 6-2, 6-4 win for Kukushkin which keeps Kazakhstan in the tie.
Tomorrow Novak Djokovic pairs up with Nenad Zimonjic to take on Golubev and Nedovyesov in what could be a vital rubber in the final outcome of the tie.
