Davis Cup title-holders Serbia went through to the quarter-finals yesterday after beating India 4-1 in their World Group first round tie in Novi Sad.
Viktor Troicki, who became a national hero after beating France’s Michael Llodra in December to win the Davis Cup title, lived up to his reputation and beat Somdev Devvarman in straight sets – 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 – to give the hosts an unassailable 3-1 lead.
And Janko Tipsarevic made it 4-1 when he saw off Karan Rastogi 6-0, 6-1 in a little under an hour in the final dead rubber.
“We won and that’s the most important. It wasn’t easy but we fought back with a lot of heart,” Troicki said.
“It’s a great feeling to be in the last eight of the competition... it also gives us a chance to carry on with our title defence.”
Devvarman, who upset Tipsarevic on Friday and who narrowly lost the doubles thriller on Saturday, did not make things easy for Troicki.
The Indian started strong in the first set causing a lot of problems for Troicki who was barely able to hold his service games. Troicki finally broke Devvarman to take a 5-4 lead and the set.
The second set went to Troicki easily as the two strenuous matches on Friday and Saturday seemed to catch up with Devvarman, ranked world number 93, who hit an unprecedented 66 unforced errors during the tie.
He fought back in the third set when tensions reached boiling point with a heated discussion with the umpires over a ball from the Serb that was initially called as out but was later corrected to on the line. Despite the call against him, Devvarman managed to get to five-all but saw his serve broken and Troicki, who hit 11 aces and 40 winners in the game, clinched the set 7-5.
In the last eight Serbia will meet Sweden after the Scandinavians won their first round clash against Russia.
“Sweden will not be an easy opponent but with Novak (Djoko-vic) we will have a chance to defend our title,” Troicki added.
First round results
Serbia vs India 4-1; Sweden vs Russia 3-2; Czech Republic vs Kazak-hstan 2-3; Argentina vs Romania 4-1; Chile vs US 1-4; Belgium vs Spain 1-4; Croatia vs Germany 2-3; Austria vs France 2-3.