Rafael Nadal put in some late-night overtime to drag hosts Spain into the Davis Cup semi-finals but Novak Djokovic’s hopes were dashed in excruciating fashion as Serbia bowed out on Friday, Reuters reports.
World number one Nadal rescued his country as he joined forces with Marcel Granollers to win the deciding doubles rubber of their quarter-final against Argentina and set up a clash with Britain who beat Germany 2-0.
The 33-year-old Nadal had earlier thrashed Diego Schwartzman 6-1 6-2 to claim a 26th successive singles win in the competition, cancelling out compatriot Pablo Carreno Busta’s 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 6-1 defeat by Guido Pella.
Maximo Gonzales and Leonardo Mayer, given incredible support by a battalion of raucous Argentine fans who sung their hearts out in La Caja Magica, were threatening to dump the hosts out when they hit back to take Nadal and Gronollers to a deciding set shootout.
If ever there was a man for a crisis it is Nadal though and he took charge as the Spaniards weathered the storm, breaking early in the decider to get home 6-4 4-6 6-3 and keep Spain on course for a first title since 2011.
With empty seats an unfortunate feature of the inaugural edition of the 18-nation Finals, organisers the ITF and Kosmos will be breathing a sigh of relief that at least Spain’s evening clash with Britain will fill the 12,500 centre court.
For Viktor Troicki and his Serbian team mates the revamped Davis Cup Finals does matter.
The revamped competition, featuring 18 nations in one venue for the first time, has been notable for long, sometimes chaotic days but also for exhilarating action. Friday was no exception. The 33-year-old was inconsolable on Friday after poking a routine volley out on Serbia’s third match point in the deciding doubles rubber of their quarter-final clash with Russia.
He and Novak Djokovic had three match points in the final-set tiebreak before Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov claimed a 6-4 4-6 7-6(8) victory at La Caja Magica to give the Russians a 2-1 win and set up a semi-final against Canada.
Troicki became a national hero in 2010 when he won the final point against France’s Michael Llodra to clinch the Davis Cup for Serbia in Belgrade, sparking unforgettable scenes in which the team, including Djokovic, shaved their heads on court before partying into the small hours.
This time there was just gut-wrenching despair as Serbia’s hopes slipped away in the cruellest fashion imaginable.
In an emotional news conference, Troicki could barely raise his chin off his chest.
“I probably feel the worst ever. I never experienced such a moment in my career,” he said.
“I let my team down and I apologise to them. We were up in the tiebreak. We had chances to finish it. We didn’t do it. I messed up in the crucial moments.
“I don’t know. God gave me the chance once to be the hero, to win the Davis Cup in the deciding rubber. Now he took it away. I’m really disappointed with myself.”
Djokovic claimed a 15th successive Davis Cup singles win when he beat Khachanov 6-3 6-3 to level the tie after Rublev had thrashed Filip Krajinovic 6-1 6-2 on centre court. The 16-times Grand Slam champion needed treatment on his elbow in the second set of the doubles but blanked out the pain as he and Troicki had match points at 6-5, 7-6 and 8-7 in the breaker. Troicki missed a return on Russia’s first match point to spark wild celebrations in the Russian camp.
“It hurts, it hurts us really badly,” Djokovic said.
The Davis Cup Finals marked the end of 35-year-old Janko Tipsarevic’s career, another of the 2010 heroes, and captain Nenad Zimonjic described it as the end of the golden generation. “At the end, you win as a team and you lose as a team. It doesn’t matter if somebody wins two matches and you end up losing the match,” he said as the tears began to flow.
“It was very emotional because it’s Janko’s last....sorry.”
“The main thing is that everybody knows here how much we care about each other, how much we love each other,” he added.
Former world number eight Tipsarevic finished off a nerve-tingling news conference in forthright fashion.
“I will be very short,” he said. “It’s not the wins or the losses, it’s that this beautiful sport makes you tough. “This emotion that you want to commit suicide after a day like this. You go towards and against the wind. These emotions are the things I can draw from these 20 years.”
British Davis Cup captain said Andy Murray may be left out of Saturday’s Davis Cup semi-final against Spain as the former world number one is not in his best condition.
The 32-year-old Murray, who returned from hip surgery in June, made heavy weather of beating 79th-ranked Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor on Wednesday in Britain’s opening group match.
But he did not feature the next day against Kazakhstan and was again only cheering on from the sidelines as Britain beat Germany 2-1 to reach the semi-final by beating Germany on Friday.
Kyle Edmund, who has returned to form after a slump, has won both his singles in place of Murray while Dan Evans secured the winning point by beating Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6(6) 3-6 7-6(2) at La Caja Magica on Friday.
Murray, who almost single-handedly took Britain to Davis Cup glory in 2015, admitted on Wednesday he had put on 5 kg (11 lb)since winning the European Open in Antwerp last month — his first title since returning to action.
“I thought that where Kyle and obviously Evo are at is ahead of where Andy’s just now,” captain Leon Smith said when asked whether Murray would return for the semi-final.
“That’s where it is in terms of how he’s feeling and whatnot. And when you’ve got two very, very good players like Kyle and Evo that are ready to go, then that’s what we do.
“He could play, but I wouldn’t say he’s in his best condition. He says that’s how he’s feeling.”
Evans, 29, is now the highest-ranked British player at 42nd but lost his opening two matches in Madrid, having won the first set. Struff pegged him back on Friday but Evans hung tough.
“The last two days for me after losing was pretty tough,” Evans said. “With Kyle doing a great job, it made it way easier for me to be in such a tight situation tonight.”
His next task is likely to be trying to stop Rafael Nadal in front of a Madrid crowd on a Saturday night.
