SYDNEY, January 10, 2020
Serbia advanced to the semi-finals of the ATP Cup. The winner of Group A defeated Canada, who finished runner-up at the inaugural Davis Cup Finals in Madrid at the end of last season, 3-0 in Friday’s day session in Sydney.
Dusan Lajovic opened the tie with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Felix Auger-Aliassime. The World No. 34 withstood 10 aces from the Canadian and broke his opponent’s serve three times to prevail after one hour and 39 minutes.
“I can tell that I was feeling much more comfortable today than the whole time in Brisbane. I felt pretty relaxed and positive on the court from the first point,” Lajovic said.
“We started off pretty well, really high intensity rhythm. I was feeling that it was not something that I’m uncomfortable with. Then I was just waiting to one of us to start to open up a little bit and push a little bit more, and I was able to do that first and crack him in the first set. And I think that was the key today, that the one who stayed longer on this high level was the one who could prevail in the end.”
Djokovic fights past Shapovalov
Next up on Ken Rosewall Arena was Novak Djokovic, who battled past Denis Shapovalov in an exciting second singles rubber. The World No. 2 won 52 per cent of the total points played to secure a 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4) in two hours and 40 minutes.
That was one seriously high quality match 😅@DjokerNole | @denis_shapo | #ATPCup pic.twitter.com/l3KbJutnNn
— ATP Tour (@atptour) January 10, 2020
“It was an amazing match. One of the closest matches I’ve played against Denis. It was very even match. He played fantastic, very aggressive, served great. We fought both until the last shot,” said Djokovic, who improved to 4-0 in ATP Cup singles matches.
In doubles, Nikola Cacic and Viktor Troicki completed the tie with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Peter Polansky and Adil Shamasdin. Cacic and Troicki saved the only break point they faced throughout the 58-minute encounter.
Djokovic will lead Serbia against Daniil Medvedev and Russia on Saturday for a place in the title match. Australia awaits the winner of the tie between Spain and Belgium.
