Davis Cup 2008

[happy]

We also can describe everything around the DC..hahah ( helloticky)! So the athmospere was great! More people were watching the DC than yesterday! The russian team was full of energy! Marat looked great, but ill and tired, so he left the eve after a few minutes!!! I think he has to go to bed and stay healthy very quick, for playing the next DAVISCUP ( thats the subject). Maybe he has also to drink hot milk ( thanks for your tipp). Oh I forgot: Every player gets an audience, but Marat gets the loudest and warmest applause. Some girls were screaming...hahaha! Not me!!! Because yesterday were sitting some BIG FANS from Youzhny ( who plays the 1st match at the Dc) behind me and they were very loud, and Youzhny can`t concentrate himself!!!! So for me it was strange to see that he don`t want to hear his fans! If I go to the footballstadium you can be loud all the time, in tennis you must be sometimes quite, that was difficult for my son`s first tennismatch!!!! So I will go tomorrow to the DC alone!!!!!!
Thank you Alya10 for the tipp and the advice. I must inform myself better before. I understand that there are more "links" for talking about different subjects!!! I also thought that this forum is for tennis in common, about Marat, but also about a little bit of his private life ( sorry, he is famous, so we talk about his private life a little bit. Is it absolutely forbidden in this forum? I read also some stuff days, weeks, month ago where some members talk about his private life?) I know I must be more carefull what I write here, sorry! I just talk here like to a friend!!!!!!

[annie]

Oh, i knew he was gonna get a fever...he left the stadium early, he must have not been feeling well at all....Poor Marat...well, at least they're playing in Russia and he can always come home to Mommy Rausa....

[Anne]

Where do you watch the matches..? Anyone, please I really want to watch haha !
Thanks

[Anne]

Thanks a lot! The Sweden-Israël coverage works perfectly fine (windows media player), but Russia-Serbia gives a red X. So I still don't see anything! Don't know why..

[jenhatter06]

wait -- what just happened? i blink and Novak's leaving the court -- and it's over ??

[Alya10]

Well Russia is home and dry ;D

Nole just retired handing the 3 point to Russia.
It's a pity it had to end like this though. Nole won the 1st two sets against Kolya, then Kolya won the 3rd and it looked like the match could become interesting when Nole retired.

So the tie score is 3-1 for Russia.

[helloticky]

retirement ?? what's going on??

[Anne]

Well done Russia. Of course a bit of a sad ending, but at least they won the tie and will face Czech Republic in the quarters!

[uranus]

Congratulations to Russia !

frensje was there with a flag i think

[jenhatter06]

Hopefully Novak will feel better soon .... sounds like he probably shouldn't have really played at all ....

Russia beat Serbia after sick Djokovic quits

MOSCOW, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Russia beat Serbia in the Davis Cup when 'flu-stricken Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic retired from his match against Nikolay Davydenko, handing the home team an unassailable 3-1 lead in their first-round tie on Sunday.

Djokovic had built up a two-set lead and was 3-0 up in the third despite being way below his best and often struggling for breath after suffering from the 'flu symptoms in the last few days.

However, Davydenko staged a miraculous recovery to win the third set 6-4, after which the Serbian decided to quit.

Djokovic was taken to a local hospital suffering from exhaustion, a Serbian team spokesman said.

The home team had led 2-0 after sweeping both of their singles matches on Friday but Djokovic kept alive Serbia's hopes when he teamed up with Nenad Zimonjic to win Saturday's doubles.

sports.yahoo.com/ten/news;_ylt=AqxXyaQq8qkJxKOSNdl8eiM4v7YF?slug=reu-davisrussia_pix&prov=reuters&type=lgns

[uranus]

Our reporter said that Novak was sick since Monday, but they didn't want to say anything because of the tactical reasons.. They had to wait for an approval of some anti-doping committee to give him medicines.. It's a miracle he could play at all today! I'm so sorry for him, and hope that there will be no consequences of this flue..
Zimonjic said he played under temperature yesterday..

[helloticky]

So sorry for Djokovic & Serbia. He played under temperature yesterday? Oh!! god.......hope Djokovic will be all right & get well soon for the next tournament.
Congratulations for Russia too.

[marti]

Uranus, it was never a secret that Nole was sick since the beginning of the week. Russian press reported it before the tie started and it was expected that he might not play on the first day.

[Alya10]

Exhausted and dizzy Djokovic retires to give Russia win

The Russians are through to the quarter-finals of the 2008 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas, but in a way noone would have wanted. And yet somehow, at the end of a tie that had as much intrigue off the court as on it, the end was almost as fitting as it was unfortunate.

The record books will record that Nikolay Davydenko defeated Novak Djokovic 46 36 64 retired, but those numbers alone cannot tell the story. Having battled flu-like symptoms all week, Djokovic knew he would be short of energy. For 2½ sets he played well enough to win, occasionally brilliantly, but having failed to win the third set, he threw in the towel, complaining of dizziness and general exhaustion. He went straight from the Luzhniki arena to his hotel, and from there to a local hospital.

The dramatic end, after Djokovic had led 3-0 in the third set with a double break, robbed the tie of a live fifth rubber that looked likely for much of the two-hour 40-minute match. It also left the best crowd of the week somewhat non-plussed, and deprived of a true moment of triumph to crown the best atmosphere of the tie. Yet the several thousand spectators will know they witnessed some very impressive tennis between the third- and fourth-best players in the world.

Djokovic shows why he is Grand Slam champ

At times Djokovic resembled Pete Sampras, who in long matches would often look as if he was running on his last reserves, but only between points – as soon as the ball was in play, it was as it he was at full fitness. After playing a measured first set, taken when he claimed the first break of the match at 5-4, Djokovic looked particularly vulnerable at 2-1 in the second set. The two players had just exchanged breaks of serve. After losing the 30-all point, Djokovic threw his wrist band away in disgust. His body language did not inspire hope for the Serbs, and even though he held serve, he called for the team masseur to give his legs a boost.

Whatever the masseur did was little short of miraculous. In the next two games, Djokovic unleashed his best tennis of the match, looking every bit a Grand Slam champion as he made the world No 4 look pedestrian. A third successive break of the Davydenko serve was followed by a sublime game for 4-1, which seemed to signal the end of the match.

It wasn’t, in fact Davydenko really should have got back on level terms. Djokovic began flexing his right ankle and breathing heavily, clearly having a “down” phase in his fluctuating energy levels. As he served for the set at 5-3, Davydenko got to 0-40, and on the first break point had a high forehand volley with Djokovic stranded. When it went into the net, that was it for Davydenko, as Djokovic safely negotiated another three break points before taking the hour-long set.

Davydenko fights back

Another rush of energy saw Djokovic open up a 3-0 lead in the third set with a double break. That was the point at which Davydenko found his most consistent tennis and – though no-one knew it at the time – Djokovic began to realise that if he didn’t win it in three sets, he wasn’t going to win at all. Cutting out the errors that had sabotaged his game for the first two sets, the Russian got one break back, and should have got the second when he missed five break points at 2-3. But he scored two games later, levelling the set at 4-4.

Serving to stay in the set at 4-5, Djokovic squandered a 40-15 lead. With Davydenko at set point, the Russian hit a backhand down the line, which caught the corner of baseline and sideline and trotted enthusiastically to his chair. Seconds later, Djokovic was shaking hands with him and leaving the stadium before most people realised what had happened. It took another minute before umpire Fergus Murphy’s announcement that Russia had won on a retirement.

“I think he still has his confidence from the Australian Open,” said Davydenko of Djokovic, “he was hitting the ball well from the baseline, but after four days of not playing I know physically he’s not so good, and when you see that we played two hours 40 minutes, for me that’s OK, but for him, you know he was feeling it after the third set, so maybe he was already very tired.”

Asked what he did when 0-3 down in the third set, the Russian said: “I tried playing just for fun to just get my confidence.” He should have more fun, perhaps starting when Russia hosts the Czech Republic, probably in Moscow in April.

[Dina]

honestly Russia got lucky today thanks to GOd! it was surely going for a decisive rubber, but now they're through the quarters against Czech probably in MOscow!
DAVAI RASSIJA!!!!!!!!!
hopefully Nole will get fine soon, and nothing new about Maratik's health? I can't stop thinking about it! lol!