Zrinski
12-03-2005, 09:17 PM
Ancic and Ljubicic edge Croatia closer to glory
http://www.daviscup.com/news/matchreport.asp?id=13541
Croatia have one hand on the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas after taking the doubles rubber in the 2005 Final here in Bratislava.
Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic have continued their stunning run in the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas this year, defeating Dominik Hrbaty and Michal Mertinak 76(5) 63 76(5) in two hours 48 minutes.
Croatia just needs to win one more rubber to take the title, and Ivan Ljubicic, the man who today extended the record number of live rubbers won by man in a year to 11, will be up first on Sunday with the chance to make that a perfect 12-0. John McEnroe also won all twelve rubbers he played in 1982, but only nine of those were live.
Ominously for the Slovaks, Ljubicic is in no doubt about the importance of tomorrow's match against Hrbaty.
"You just give everything you have because, as I said yesterday, you can die on the court, who cares.
"I think it's no question it's going to be the most important match of our lives, Dominik's and mine myself."
Hrbaty though is still upbeat about his chances of stopping the Ljubicic Davis Cup juggernaut.
"I think my chances are pretty nice. He is going to enter the match as a paper favorite, so he'll be under pressure. Of course, I'll do my best. I'll fight as far as I can. Hopefully we can turn the match around."
As well as Ljubicic, the clear leader of the Croatian pairing today and the player who once again came up with the big shots on the big points, history is also against the hosts. Only three nations have won the Davis Cup after losing the Final doubles rubber since the Challenge Round was abolished in 1972, and there have been only six occasions on which a nation has turned around a 1-2 deficit in the Final. The last time this happened – and the sole occasion since the introduction of the World Group in 1981 – was in 2002, when Russia won both Sunday singles against France.
It’s a cliché to say that tennis matches are decided by a couple of important points here and there. But clichés are clichés because they are usually true – and that was the case here today.
A nervy first set from both nations somehow found its way to a tiebreak, but only after four successive breaks of serve from 3-all to 5-all in the first set. The tiebreak endured some twists and turns of its own, but a minibreak for the Slovaks put them at 5-4, and needing just to hold Hrbaty’s two service points to take the set.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man, and Ljubcic sent a perfectly judged topspin backhand lob over Mertinak to level things at 5-all. In the arc of lob you could almost trace the destiny of this rubber – the Davis Cup even – as it seemed to break the Slovaks’ spirit, if just for a moment. Mertinak missed a backhand volley on the next point, before Ljubicic – who else – fired down a huge ace to seal the set – the Croats had won it without hitting anywhere near their best form.
Until now, it hadn’t seemed to matter that the Slovaks had been denied the chance to field their own winning doubles combination, Karol Beck and Mertinak. Like Ancic and Ljubicic, that pairing also had an unblemished record in Davis Cup doubles play this year coming into the Final. However, Beck had failed to recover from the knee injury that kept him sidelined for the singles on Friday, hence Hrbaty’s appearance today.
There had been no reason for the home fans to be unduly pessimistic though, since Hrbaty and Mertinak had reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals this year, and the first set – until its end – suggested that the change had not affected the home team too much.
The second set, though, exposed Hrbaty’s lack of Davis Cup doubles match practice this year, and he dropped serve twice as the Croats took the set 6-3.
"I think, yes, the first set was definitely the key," said Ljubicic. "But I think second set, it's one of the best sets we ever played in Davis Cup together."
Hrbaty agreed.
"I think if the first set had gone the other way, maybe the whole match would have been different."
The Slovaks had their chances in the third set, earning three break points on Ancic’s serve in the third and seventh games, but once the set was in a tiebreak, Croatia was never behind. A netted forehand from Hrbaty gave the visitors the win, and it could be a priceless one.
The Croat pair, Olympic bronze medallists in Athens last year, have won all four Davis Cup by BNP Paribas doubles rubbers they have played in 2005, the seventh time this has been done in World Group play. It repeats Bob and Mike Bryan’s identical achievement in 2004, and fittingly, it was Ancic and Ljubicic who ended the Bryans’ winning streak in the first round this year.
Their victory today vindicated Captain Niki Pilic’s decision to stick with a winning formula, resisting the temptation to throw Goran Ivanisevic into the fray in place of Mario Ancic, who had lost a long four-setter to Hrbaty on Friday.
It is all set up for Ljubicic, the man of the 2005 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas so far, to win the trophy for his country on Sunday in the first rubber against Hrbaty. Yet in sport, and in Davis Cup in particular, you can take nothing for granted, and if Hrbaty can win, the fifth rubber could be fascinating.
Might we see Karol Kucera and Goran Ivanisevic, the two fathers of tennis in these young nations, doing battle for the ultimate national tennis honour?
http://www.daviscup.com/news/matchreport.asp?id=13541
Croatia have one hand on the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas after taking the doubles rubber in the 2005 Final here in Bratislava.
Mario Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic have continued their stunning run in the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas this year, defeating Dominik Hrbaty and Michal Mertinak 76(5) 63 76(5) in two hours 48 minutes.
Croatia just needs to win one more rubber to take the title, and Ivan Ljubicic, the man who today extended the record number of live rubbers won by man in a year to 11, will be up first on Sunday with the chance to make that a perfect 12-0. John McEnroe also won all twelve rubbers he played in 1982, but only nine of those were live.
Ominously for the Slovaks, Ljubicic is in no doubt about the importance of tomorrow's match against Hrbaty.
"You just give everything you have because, as I said yesterday, you can die on the court, who cares.
"I think it's no question it's going to be the most important match of our lives, Dominik's and mine myself."
Hrbaty though is still upbeat about his chances of stopping the Ljubicic Davis Cup juggernaut.
"I think my chances are pretty nice. He is going to enter the match as a paper favorite, so he'll be under pressure. Of course, I'll do my best. I'll fight as far as I can. Hopefully we can turn the match around."
As well as Ljubicic, the clear leader of the Croatian pairing today and the player who once again came up with the big shots on the big points, history is also against the hosts. Only three nations have won the Davis Cup after losing the Final doubles rubber since the Challenge Round was abolished in 1972, and there have been only six occasions on which a nation has turned around a 1-2 deficit in the Final. The last time this happened – and the sole occasion since the introduction of the World Group in 1981 – was in 2002, when Russia won both Sunday singles against France.
It’s a cliché to say that tennis matches are decided by a couple of important points here and there. But clichés are clichés because they are usually true – and that was the case here today.
A nervy first set from both nations somehow found its way to a tiebreak, but only after four successive breaks of serve from 3-all to 5-all in the first set. The tiebreak endured some twists and turns of its own, but a minibreak for the Slovaks put them at 5-4, and needing just to hold Hrbaty’s two service points to take the set.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man, and Ljubcic sent a perfectly judged topspin backhand lob over Mertinak to level things at 5-all. In the arc of lob you could almost trace the destiny of this rubber – the Davis Cup even – as it seemed to break the Slovaks’ spirit, if just for a moment. Mertinak missed a backhand volley on the next point, before Ljubicic – who else – fired down a huge ace to seal the set – the Croats had won it without hitting anywhere near their best form.
Until now, it hadn’t seemed to matter that the Slovaks had been denied the chance to field their own winning doubles combination, Karol Beck and Mertinak. Like Ancic and Ljubicic, that pairing also had an unblemished record in Davis Cup doubles play this year coming into the Final. However, Beck had failed to recover from the knee injury that kept him sidelined for the singles on Friday, hence Hrbaty’s appearance today.
There had been no reason for the home fans to be unduly pessimistic though, since Hrbaty and Mertinak had reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals this year, and the first set – until its end – suggested that the change had not affected the home team too much.
The second set, though, exposed Hrbaty’s lack of Davis Cup doubles match practice this year, and he dropped serve twice as the Croats took the set 6-3.
"I think, yes, the first set was definitely the key," said Ljubicic. "But I think second set, it's one of the best sets we ever played in Davis Cup together."
Hrbaty agreed.
"I think if the first set had gone the other way, maybe the whole match would have been different."
The Slovaks had their chances in the third set, earning three break points on Ancic’s serve in the third and seventh games, but once the set was in a tiebreak, Croatia was never behind. A netted forehand from Hrbaty gave the visitors the win, and it could be a priceless one.
The Croat pair, Olympic bronze medallists in Athens last year, have won all four Davis Cup by BNP Paribas doubles rubbers they have played in 2005, the seventh time this has been done in World Group play. It repeats Bob and Mike Bryan’s identical achievement in 2004, and fittingly, it was Ancic and Ljubicic who ended the Bryans’ winning streak in the first round this year.
Their victory today vindicated Captain Niki Pilic’s decision to stick with a winning formula, resisting the temptation to throw Goran Ivanisevic into the fray in place of Mario Ancic, who had lost a long four-setter to Hrbaty on Friday.
It is all set up for Ljubicic, the man of the 2005 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas so far, to win the trophy for his country on Sunday in the first rubber against Hrbaty. Yet in sport, and in Davis Cup in particular, you can take nothing for granted, and if Hrbaty can win, the fifth rubber could be fascinating.
Might we see Karol Kucera and Goran Ivanisevic, the two fathers of tennis in these young nations, doing battle for the ultimate national tennis honour?