Llodra-Clement give visitors 2-1 lead as they beat hosts Serbia in crucial doubles rubber
Llodra-Clement give visitors 2-1 lead as they beat hosts Serbia in crucial doubles rubber |
| France's Arnaud Clement returns during the doubles tie of the Davis Cup final against Serbia's Victor Troicki and Nenad Zimonjic at the Belgrade Arena on Saturday.
Pic/AFP |
France earned an upper hand in the Davis Cup final against Serbia as veteran Arnaud Clement and doubles specialist Michael Llodra came back from two sets down to beat the Serbian pair of Nenad Zimonjic and Victor Troicki in a five set thriller for a 2-1 advantage. Clement-Llodra won 3-6, 6-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-4. This, a day after Serbia's world number three Novak Djokovic fired a blistering 62 winners to defeat Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 to take a 1-0 lead, after France's Gael Monfils had earlier handed the nine-time champions a 1-0 lead with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/4), 6-0 victory over Janko Tipsarevic.
On the crucial third day of the five-match rubber on Sunday, Djokovic takes on Gael Monfils while Simon faces Tipsarevic in a bid to deny the Serbians their first ever Davis Cup title.
Saturday's marathon doubles final lasted 4 hours and 34 minutes with fortune switching sides frequently. In the end, it was Clement-Llodra's persistence that paid off.
Earlier in the day, Serbia announced their preference to go with Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki, rather than World No 3 Djokovic, for the doubles contest.
Skipper Bogdan Obradovic stuck with Troicki although French captain Guy Forget has voiced his hunch that Djokovic would get the nod. As the result suggests, the Serbians may have got that decision wrong.
