By Alberto Amalfi | Friday, September 15, 2017
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga swept Laslo Djere, 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-3, levelling France’s Davis Cup semifinal with Serbia, 1-1, after the opening day of play on the red clay of Stade Pierre Mauroy, in Lille, France.
Photo credit: Corinne Dubreuil/Davis Cup Facebook
Dusan Lajovic silenced French fans in the first match.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga restored the roar for the French faithful in the second rubber.
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Tsonga swept Laslo Djere, 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-3, levelling France’s Davis Cup semifinal with Serbia, 1-1, after the opening day of play on the red clay of Stade Pierre Mauroy, in Lille, France.
Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicols Mahut, the 2016 Wimbledon doubles champions, are scheduled to face Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic and Nenad Zimonjic in Saturday’s doubles though both captains can substitute for the match.
Tsonga takes on Lajovic and Pouille is scheduled to play Djere in Sunday’s reverse singles.
The Tsonga serve set the tone: He permitted just eight points on first serve, cranked eight aces and denied two of three break points raising his Davis Cup record on red clay to 17-3.
Contesting his first career Davis Cup match for a nation playing without the injured Novak Djokovic, Djere did early damage with his forehand and stayed in step with the former Australian Open finalist for a full set.
The pair exchanged breaks in the opening set. Tsonga lifted his level in the tie break taking the first set in just under an hour.
Tsonga won 21 of 22 points played on his serve in powering through the second set. He denied two break points in the third set wrapping up the equalizing win in two hours, seven minutes.
Initially, it seemed French captain Yannick Noah may have second thoughts choosing a low-bouncing dirt track for the semifinal rematch of the 2010 Davis Cup final.
"We are supposed to be trying to do it together—you know we win together, we lose together," Noah told DavisCup.com afterward. "But I believe Jo won by himself and I lost with Luca so I am going to have to improve our relationship and communication for the next game. I am learning every day."
A spirited Lajovic jumped all over a skittish Lucas Pouille at the outset then fought through a gritty 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5) victory to stake Serbia to a 1-0 lead.
Sensing Pouille’s nerves playing in front of France fans, Lajovic pounced on opportunity breaking three times in the opening set.
“The court is really tough, it’s not bouncing so high so you see a lot of breaks and I think it’s extremely difficult to play in these kind of conditions,” Lajovic told DavisCup.com afterward. “We were both physically struggling at the end but I went out as a winner and I’m very happy about it.
The 80th-ranked Lajovic had split two prior meetings with the 22nd-ranked Frenchman. After Pouille won the second set, the pair dug in for a tense third set.
Pouille pumped in a big first serve saving set point to forge a 6-6 tie in the third-set tie break.
Two points later, Lajovic denied a set point with a dramatic netcord winner.
French fans were rocking, but Pouille’s forehand failed him. He clanked consecutive forehand errors as Lajovic held strong on his second set point to seize a two sets to one lead.
"There were a lot of nerves in the beginning and I could see he was tense and tight in the beginning and I used that to my advantage,” Lajovic said. “Honestly I didn’t know if I would win the fourth set and if it went the distance he would have the advantage physically as we saw the last couple of points."
Though Pouille fought off match points in the fourth set, Lajovic bumped a short backhand volley into the frontcourt sealing a gripping three-hour, seven-minute victory.
The winner of the France vs. Serbia semifinal will play either Belgium or Australia in the November 24-26th Davis Cup final.
David Goffin defeated Australia's John Millman, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (4) to stake Belgium to a 1-0 lead over the green-and-gold in Brussels earlier today.
Nick Kyrgios subdued Steve Darcis, 6-3, 3-6, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2, as Australia earned a singles split on the opening day of semifinal play on the red clay of Palais 12 in Brussels, Belgium.