MADRID, November 22, 2019
Russia is the second team to reach the stage of the last four at the Davis Cup by Rakuten Madrid Finals. Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev won the decisive doubles rubber 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(8) against Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki on Friday afternoon.
The Russian duo saved three match points in an exciting tie-break of the final set to secure victory in two hours and 13 minutes.
Re-live the moment @AndreyRublev97 & @karenkhachanov led Russia to victory…#DavisCupMadridFinals #byRakuten pic.twitter.com/fHKOyNy4TG
— Davis Cup by Rakuten Madrid Finals (@DavisCupFinals) November 22, 2019
Earlier in the tie, Rublev had won the opening match against Filip Krajinovic 6-1, 6-2 before Djokovic fought past Khachanov 6-3, 6-3.
“That was a typical Davis cup match, deciding match in doubles where both countries gave their best, we were really fighting until the end, that’s the only way to win a match like that,” said Khachanov.
“We maybe got lucky in some points at the end, so there is only one winner. We feel really bad for the Serbian team but on the other side really happy that Russia qualified for the semis after a while.”
Although Russia fell to Spain on Tuesday night, they have played well all week and benefited from two days’ rest since their last tie. The team of Shamil Tarpischev has reached their first semi-final since 2008 and awaits Canada in the first match-up on Saturday.
