Djokovic, Troicki hand Serbia the Davis Cup

France lose on final day after leading overnight.

BELGRADE: World number three Novak Djokovic and the unheralded Viktor Troicki swept Serbia to a historic first Davis Cup title on Sunday, overturning an overnight deficit to beat nine-time winners France 3-2.

Troicki, the world number 30, eased past Michael Llodra 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, after Djokovic had crushed Gael Monfils 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 to pull his country level with his sixth win in six Davis Cup singles rubbers this season.

“It’s the best moment of my life,” said Troicki, who had lost Saturday’s doubles alongside Nenad Zimonjic to Llodra and Arnaud Clement, forcing his team to face a nailbiting last day.

Djokovic marked the historic moment by having his head shaved courtside by teammates.

“It’s history,” said Djokovic, who had defeated Gilles Simon 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 on Friday after Monfils had given France the advantage with a 6-1, 7-6 (7/4), 6-0 win over Janko Tipsarevic. “It’s our biggest success as individuals, as a team and country.”

On Sunday, Troicki had been called in to replace Tipsarevic in the crucial singles and the 24-year-old delivered in style, hitting 58 winners to Llodra’s 32 in the 2 hours and 13 minutes encounter. Only briefly did he look like expectation might get the better of him when, at 4-1 ahead in the third set, he lost two quick games. But he held his nerve to seal victory when his opponent was left flat-footed by a cross-court backhand winner.

Llodra, though, was devastated by his defeat.“I was crying because I was unable to win the last point and because things didn’t happen the way that I wanted them to,” said Llodra.

Sunday’s triumph will rank alongside Serbia’s previous best global performances of the Olympic volleyball gold medal in 2000 and the 2001 European basketball title.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2010.