U.S. Falls to Djokovic-Led Serbia 3-1 in Davis Cup Play
A match that featured early uncertainty for Serbia’s Novak Djokovic finished as another victory for the world’s number one player and his country, as Djokovic shook off an early ankle injury to defeat world number 20 Sam Querrey, the top-ranked American, 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-0, in the Davis Cup World Group Quarterfinal tie, 3-1, on an indoor hard court at Boise State University’s Taco Bell Arena.
Early in the first set, Djokovic appeared to injure his right ankle and took a medical timeout. He returned, and served 12 aces to Querrey’s seven, improving his record against Querrey to 6-1 and his Davis Cup singles record to 22-7. Querrey, battling a pectoral injury of his own that limited his serve, moved to 4-6 in Davis Cup singles and 3-5 in live rubbers, with all three of those live wins coming this year.
Because Djokovic won the clinching tie in four sets, the fourth singles tie, American John Isner versus Viktor Troicki of Serbia, was not played. Serbia improved to 2-0 against the United States in Davis Cup and, along with Croatia and Spain, remains one of only three countries to have a winning record against the U.S. Davis Cup Team. Jim Courier’s record in three years as U.S. Davis Cup Captain is 4-3, 1-2 at home.
"Obviously it’s very strong emotion when you play for your country," said Djokovic. "I guess that’s the biggest reason why I kept playing. Injuries are a part of sport, and you try to avoid as much as you can as an athlete. The nature of the injury is still to be determined."
In Friday’s Singles A match, Djokovic defeated Isner 7-6(5), 6-2, 7-5, while in Singles B action, it was Querrey who defeated Troicki, 7-6(1), 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. In Saturday action in Doubles, the Serbian duo of Ilija Bozoljac & Nenad Zimonjic defeated the world number one-ranked doubles team of Bob & Mike Bryan, 7-6(5), 7-6(1), 5-7, 4-6, 15-13. In Sunday’s Singles C action, it was Djokovic who sealed the win for his homeland with his win over Querrey, 7-5, 6-7(4), 6-1, 6-0. The Singles D match between Isner and Troicki was not played due to Djokovic clinching the win.
Serbia advances to play the Canada/Italy winner in the World Group Semifinals Sept. 13-15. Serbia would host Canada and travel to Italy. The United States is expected to be a seeded country in the 2014 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group. The draw will be held following the Semifinals and World Group Playoff in September.
"The whole week has been great," said Querrey. "We had an unbelievable five or six days of practice. We fought hard in the tie. The venue was amazing. The city is great. So I thought everything was perfect. We have no complaints. I thought the fans did a great job coming out and cheering. Boise is a great tennis town. Hopefully we can have another tie here one day."
Djokovic had his ankle tightly wrapped and had taken anti-inflammatory pills. He plans to travel home to Monte Carlo to have an MRI. He was hoping to be ready to play the Monte-Carlo Rolex Masters, which he considers his home event, but didn’t sound convinced he’d be ready to play when it gets underway on April 14.
