Serbia celebrated their first Davis Cup title on Sunday as Viktor Troicki thrashed France's Michael Llodra to secure a memorable 3-2 victory inside a rocking Belgrade Arena.
Chants of "Viktor" and "Serbia" reverberated around the imposing 17,000-capacity venue as Troicki, a late swap for the deciding rubber, won 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 against a powerless opponent who cracked under the pressure.
Serbia begun the day 2-1 in arrears against the nine-times champions after losing a cliffhanger doubles rubber on Saturday, but first Novak Djokovic pummelled Gael Monfils to level the tie before Troicki finished the job.
After claiming the first set with ease he went 2-0 down in the second but reeled off eight consecutive games to a cacophony of beating drums and chanting.
Llodra raised the tension levels when he broke serve to close to 3-4 in the third set but Troicki, with Djokovic and the rest of his team willing him on at courtside, held his nerve.
A weak Llodra volley brought up two match points and the party could start in earnest when Troicki fired a backhand winner past the despairing Frenchman.
Earlier, Serbia's Novak Djokovic pummelled France's Gael Monfils on Sunday to tie the Davis Cup final at 2-2 and set up a nailbiting climax later in the Belgrade Arena.
Djokovic completed a 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 victory to the delight of the vast majority of the near 17,000 crowd and put the hosts on the verge of their first Davis Cup final triumph.
To thicken an intriguing the plot still further both team captains then changed their expected line-ups for the second reverse singles, which will decide the tie.
France's Michael Llodra, who won a cliffhanger doubles with Arnaud Clement on Saturday to edge France 2-1 ahead, will face Serbia's Viktor Troicki who was preferred to Janko Tipsarevic.
Monfils, who had given France a 1-0 lead on Friday by outplaying Tipsarevic, was no match for a fired-up Djokovic who celebrated his victory like a triumphant prize fighter, legs apart and fists clenched, bellowing at the crowd.
"You have to make noise to silence the French fans," an emotional Djokovic implored the crowd.
"We are at home, we have to make it count now. This is one of the best matches I've played in my career in the circumstances.
"I have a lot of respect for all the French players, especially Gael who is a long-time friend," added world no three
Djokovic, who won both his singles without dropping a set, was dominant for two sets but had some alarms in the third when Monfils relaxed and started striking massive forehands.
Monfils broke to lead 4-3 with a scorching winner, which prompted Djokovic to destroy his racket frame in rage, but the Serb regained his composure to hit back and clinch victory in little more than two hours.
Despite a deafening noise from the packed stands, which also contained 1,200 travelling French fans kitted out in all blue and holding aloft giant tricolours, there was no repeat of the bad feeling which at times marred Saturday's doubles.
© 2024 Rediff.com -