Slovakia beat Serbia
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Slovakia beat Serbia in the qualifying match for the Davis Cup tennis competition this weekend. A surprisingly decisive win, 4-0, on the Serbs‘ home courts. Although the Serbs did not have Novak Djokovic on their side, they are still ranked much higher than Slovakia and were the semi-finalists in the Davis Cup last year. Slovakia has no player in the ATP top-100 world rankings. But the Slovak team won all matches, singles and doubles.
Captain of the Slovak Davis Cup team, Alex Molčan: “It is for the first time that we have made it into the final tournament although the team was there some time ago but the format was different back then. So this is for us a historical success. We have been trying to get there for several years with no luck and now we won 4:0. I am very happy.”
Very happy is also the most senior member of the team, 41-year old double specialist Igor Zelenay: “To get qualified is a fantastic feeling. It’s a pity we didn’t play at home in front of our audience. But it is all the more beautiful that we were not the favoured ones in Serbia but we managed to win. The euphoria was unbelievable, one will remember that for the rest of their lives.“
Hero of the day was Lukas Klein. In the first single of the qualification match, he scored an important first point while he added the crucial point playing doubles along with Igor Zelenay.
Norbert Gomboš did not play, he was injured and had to watch from the sidelines. But he was thrilled: “I am absolutely proud of them for making it through, nothing better could happen. We showed to the whole world that on paper we are not ranking high but we are performing unbelievably and that we can beat players ranking 150 and even 130 in ATP. This proves that Davis Cup is not about only individuals but about the whole team. We have shown we are a great team and we can beat such a strong rival as Serbs.“
The Serbian captain, Viktor Troichi, called the loss ‚shocking.‘
(RTVS)
