Daniil Medvedev, the only man ranked behind Novak Djokovic, has admitted that “some people from Serbia” sent a message to the Russian team during a dramatic day when they threw out champions Spain to keep Djokovic’s team in the Davis Cup.
The Russian Tennis Federation will return to Madrid to face Sweden in the quarter-finals after Medvedev and his teammates won first place in their group despite losing the first of their three matches against the holders.
In a fantastic opening result, 40-year-old Feliciano Lopez, world number 106, recovered from losing the first set 6-2 to beat Andrey Rublev, who is 101 places above him.
Medvedev, known for enjoying himself in front of a hostile audience, received Olympic bronze medalist Pablo Carreno-Busta who needed to level the score to keep the team’s hope of winning alive.
The US Open winner got into a 3-0 lead and then saw the first set after Carreno-Busta broke back.
Carreno-Busta looked to be on the verge of forcing a decisive set when world set 20 went up 3-0 in second, only for Medvedev to win five games in a row.
The tough Spaniard broke back to secure a tie-break which Medvedev won 7-3 to level.
Djokovic had secured the victory for Serbia against Austria on Friday, but their previous defeat against Germany meant that his team relied on a Russian victory to reach the last eight.
It looked doubtful when Lopez and Marcel Granollers took a lead in the first set against Rublev and world number 18 Aslan Karatsev, only for the Russian pair to win 12 of the last 18 matches to send their team through.
“I do not think we will do this during the tournament,” Medvedev replied when asked later if Medvedev would buy him dinner in exchange for the result. “But another day – we’ll see.
“It’s funny, during the match we started getting messages from some people from Serbia, let’s call them that. But I will not tell you from whom.
“They said, ‘Come on, guys, we believe in you.’” But our goal was just to win the game.
“It was not that we chose who we would beat, Spain or Serbia. We just wanted to win, and we are happy that we succeeded.”
Karatsev called the Russian team “fantastic” and “strong”. “Of course everyone comes here to win the title,” he said. “Each of the players gives 100 percent. And yes, we aim for the title.”
Spain captain Sergi Brugera also praised his players. “The truth is, I could not have been more proud of my team,” he said.
“We have overcome many problems. We won 3-0 [against Ecuador] and then [only] lost 2-1 [against the Russian Tennis Federation], and [we won] third set in double 6-4.
“My team fought incredibly. Today it’s just good. I can not say anything bad, 10 points for dedication, for the level of play.”
The Russian Tennis Federation meets Sweden and Serbia meets Kazakhstan in Madrid on 1 and 2 December.
Great Britain meets Germany in Innsbruck on November 29, while Italy meets Croatia in Turin on the same date.
(RT.com)
Source: sn.dk