Paris : Serbia reached the Davis Cup quarter-finals to set up a possible mouth watering clash between Grand Slam heavyweights Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal while champions Argentina stayed alive. Meanwhile, Australia advanced to the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup tennis tournament after defeating the Czech Republic 4-1.
Serbia, the 2010 champions, took an unassailable 3-0 lead over Russia on Saturday in their World Group opener in Nis when 40-year-old Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki downed Andrey Kuznetsov and Konstantin Kravchuk 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (5/7), 6-4.
On Friday, Troicki beat Karen Khachanov 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (8/6) in the opening singles before Djokovic made it 2-0 when Daniil Medvedev retired with cramps in the fourth set allowing the 12-time major winner to claim a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 1-0 win.
“I have to congratulate Viktor for an excellent match after spending five hours on court Friday,” said Zimonjic, the Serbia captain. “It was a massive challenge even though he’s one of the fittest players on tour.”
Djokovic could face Nadal in the last eight in April should five-time champions Spain see off Croatia in Osijek. Nadal was sitting out the trip to Croatia after reaching the Australian Open final last weekend but would be certain to return to face a Djokovic-inspired Serbia. —AFP
