Davis Cup: Lajovic wrestles Melzer down - 1-0 for Serbia
Dusan Lajovic gave the Serbian team a 1-0 lead against Austria at the Davis Cup in Innsbruck. Lajovic beat a strong Gerald Melzer 7: 6 (5), 3: 6 and 7: 5.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Nov 26, 2021, 06:52 pm
Austria's team boss Stefan Koubek had waited until the last moment before announcing his decision for Gerald Melzer and against Jurij Rodionov as the second individual player. And Melzer, who had some successes and a lot of self-confidence in South America in the past few weeks, justified the trust placed in him.
In the first set it was the left-hander who, driven by his brother and Davis Cup legend Jürgen Melzer, was closer to a break, but in the end Lajovic got the tiebreaker. In the second act, Melzer brought an early break safely to the finish line, the converted point to compensate for sentences would have been frenetically celebrated in a full hall.
Djokovic clear favorite against Novak
In the decision, the Austrian allowed himself a short period of weakness and gave up his serve to make it 1: 3. Lajovic, ranked 33rd in the ATP world rankings, let the advantage be taken away again. And gave his serve to 3: 4. From this point in time at the latest, a match developed that would have looked good even in a clay court tournament: long rallies with many changes of cut. However, Dusan Lajovic seemed to be able to set the last punch line: After a playing time of 2:35 hours, Melzer sent a smash out, Lajovic had three match points.
Melzer fended off all three, but could not use a chance to equalize. And Lajovic struck on his fourth chance.
Novak Djokovic can already fix the victory of the Serbs against Austria in the match against Dennis Novak. Djokovic had hit it off with Filip Krajinovic in the afternoon, who would also have been an option for a single assignment. In the game with Novak, the number one in the world is the clear favorite.
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