Serbia storm into 2-0 Davis lead

Serbia got off to a flying start in their Davis Cup World Group play-off in Bratislava, establishing an 2-0 lead over Slovakia. First out on court was world no.3 Novak Djokovic taking on Dominik Hrbaty, previously undefeated in Davis Cup ties on home soil. Serbia storm into 2-0 Davis lead However, although a close-fought encounter was expected, Djokovic soon silenced the home crowd, cruising to straight sets victory in 2 hours and 3 minutes (6:2, 6:4, 6:3). The day’s real drama was saved for the second rubber between Serbian no.2 Janko Tipsarevic and Slovakian no.1 Lukas Lacko. After losing the first set in a tie-break, Tipsarevic, renowned for his apparent inability to perform to his best against lower-ranked players, seemed to be heading for defeat when Lacko edged the second set 6-4. Nonetheless, the Serbian player dug deep, taking the next two sets, to level things up, and take the match into a decider. Despite looking fitter going into the closing stages, however, Tipsarevic appeared unable to break the Lacko serve, as the young Slovak recovered 0-40 and 15-40 deficits in consecutive games to keep the contest alive. A particularly painful moment for Tipsarevic was when one point away from claiming a decisive 4-3 lead, he struck a seemingly perfect winner down the line, only for the line judge to call it out, with the Serb on his knees already celebrating. Tipsarevic, though was not to be denied, and he broke to 7-6, to leave him serving for the match. And, despite Lacko reaching 15-40, the Serb rallied, closing the match with his third match point. Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki are currently taking on Slovakia's Mihal Mertinak and Filip Polasek in today's doubles encounter. Janko Tipsarevic (FoNet)

Serbia storm into 2-0 Davis lead

However, although a close-fought encounter was expected, Đoković soon silenced the home crowd, cruising to straight sets victory in 2 hours and 3 minutes (6:2, 6:4, 6:3).

The day’s real drama was saved for the second rubber between Serbian no.2 Janko Tipsarević and Slovakian no.1 Lukas Lacko.

After losing the first set in a tie-break, Tipsarević, renowned for his apparent inability to perform to his best against lower-ranked players, seemed to be heading for defeat when Lacko edged the second set 6-4.

Nonetheless, the Serbian player dug deep, taking the next two sets, to level things up, and take the match into a decider.

Despite looking fitter going into the closing stages, however, Tipsarević appeared unable to break the Lacko serve, as the young Slovak recovered 0-40 and 15-40 deficits in consecutive games to keep the contest alive. A particularly painful moment for Tipsarević was when one point away from claiming a decisive 4-3 lead, he struck a seemingly perfect winner down the line, only for the line judge to call it out, with the Serb on his knees already celebrating.

Tipsarević, though was not to be denied, and he broke to 7-6, to leave him serving for the match. And, despite Lacko reaching 15-40, the Serb rallied, closing the match with his third match point.

Nenad Zimonjić and Viktor Troicki are currently taking on Slovakia's Mihal Mertinak and Filip Polašek in today's doubles encounter.