World number one Novak Djokovic of Belgrade, Serbia seems to be on a mission. The 34-year-old who is tied with Roger Federer of Switzerland and Rafael Nadal of Spain for the most grand slam titles ever with 20, is looking to help Serbia win its second Davis Cup in the history of the nation. Now Serbia is only two wins away from achieving that mark.
On Wednesday, Serbia defeated Kazakhstan two matches to one in the 2021 Davis Cup quarterfinals from Madrid, Spain. Djokovic won in men’s singles and men’s doubles. The singles victory came in a straight set, 6-3, 6-4 win over Alexander Bublik to even the best of three tie at one match each. Kazakhstan won the opening match as Mikhail Kukushkin defeated Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6, 4-6, 7-6. The third set tiebreaker went 24 points before Kukushkin was victorious 13-11.
Then in men’s doubles action, Djokovic teamed up with Nikola Cacic to beat Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. Serbia will now play Croatia in the semifinal on Friday.
Serbia and Croatia are bitter rivals, and at one time were both part of the country of Yugoslavia. In 2007 and 2009, Serbian and Croatian fans clashed with one another at the Australian Open.
Serbia and Croatia have participated twice before in the Davis Cup, with Serbia being victorious on both occasions. In 2010, Serbia beat Croatia 4-1 in the quarterfinals from Split. Serbia went on to win the 2010 Davis Cup as they defeated France in the final, 3-2. Then in 2015, Serbia won all five matches against Croatia in the first round from Kraljevo, Serbia.
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