By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, March 2, 2015
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic is scheduled to return to Davis Cup for the first time since the 2013 final when he leads host Serbia against rival Croatia.
Photo credit: AP
Novak Djokovic could meet his practice partner for the first time in a match when Serbia hosts arch-rival Croatia in the Davis Cup World Group opening-round action this weekend.
The world No. 1 practices with rising Croatian teenager Borna Coric and the pair could square off for the first time on the hard court of the Kraljevo Sports Centre in Kraljevo, Serbia.
Djokovic: Borna Coric is Next Nole
"It's like playing myself. Very similar game," said Djokovic of Coric in a Dubai press conference last week. "Great fighting spirit, disciplined, focused, committed, confident, very young but confident, which is important."
Djokovic returns to Davis Cup competition for the first time since he scored straight-sets wins over Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych to account for both Serbian points in a 3-2 loss to the Czech Republic in the 2013 final in Belgrade.
The Australian Open champion has won seven straight Davis Cup singles matches and 14 of his last 15 singles encounters in the international team event with his lone loss in that span coming by retirement to Juan Martin del Potro in 2011. Veterans Viktor Troicki and Nenad Zimonjic and Filip Krajinovic round out the Serbian squad.
In the absence of U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, who is sidelined with a sore shoulder, Coric is the Croatian No. 1 and lone Top 100-ranked player on the squad. The 18-year-old Coric has already hit the practice court in preparation for his fourth career Davis Cup match.
In Ostrava, three-time Davis Cup champion Czech Republic will be without standouts Berdych and Stepanek leaving Lukas Rosol and Jiri Vesely to carry the load as it hosts Australia.
Lleyton Hewitt and Sam Groth listened to words of wisdom from Aussie legend Tony Roche, the man many Hall of Famers cite as owning one of the best backhand volleys in history, during practice in Ostrava. Australia has won six of seven meetings with the Czech Republic.
Thanasi Kokkinakis and Groth went at it during a practice set while coach Roche looked on.
For the second straight year the USA will face Great Britain renewing the first-ever Davis Cup tie in history.
It's the 20th meeting between the two nations and should be intense. The Brits are bidding to beat the Americans on home soil for the first time since 1935.
Organizers put down a fresh coat of paint on the hard court of Emirates Arena in Glasgow.
It didn't take long for the Bryan brothers to scuff up the pristine surface with a hard-charging practice session.
Fresh off his second career ATP final amid the sun and swirl of Delray Beach, Donald Young found much calmer conditions beneath the roof of the Emirates Arena in Glasgow under the watchful eye of captain Jim Courier.
British No. 1 Andy Murray could partner brother Jamie in doubles against the Bryan brothers. Murray has been giving the hard-court quite a work-out already.
Canada hosts Japan in Vancouver in a potential blockbuster first-round tie that's a rematch of the 2014 first round. Japan, which has won all six ties between the nations, is playing for its second straight trip to the quarterfinals.
Acapulco finalist Kei Nishikori arrives armed with a career-high ranking of No. 4 and an impressive 14-2 Davis Cup record, including a 12-1 singles mark in Cup matches contested on hard court.
Nishikori has won four of six meetings with Canadian No. 1 Milos Raonic, but the massive-servering Raonic won their most recent clash, in three tie break sets, in the Brisbane semifinals in January. Six of the last 11 sets they've played have been decided in breakers. Nishikori has yet to face Canadian No. 2 Vasek Pospisil.
Canada is playing for its third World Group victory in history.
Ahead of the clash, Tennis Canada rebranded launching its Live the Moment campaign featuring Davis Cup standouts Raonic, Pospisil and Daniel Nestor.
Canadian No. 1 Raonic and teammate Frank Dancevic got their kicks on the new court with a quick game of soccer-tennis.