By Tennis Now | Sunday, January 12, 2020
Novak Djokovic and buddy Viktor Troicki swept Pablo Carreno Busta and Feliciano Lopez in the decisive doubles lifting Serbia over Spain to claim the inaugural ATP Cup.
Photo credit: ATP Cup Facebook
A red swarm of Serbian players swirled in joy across the blue court turning Ken Rosewall Arena into a bounce house.
A decade after Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki lifted Serbia to its first Davis Cup championship, the childhood buddies joined forces again leading Serbia to the inaugural ATP Cup championship.
More: Djokovic Tops Nadal
World No. 2 Djokovic topped world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in singles to level the final then Djokovic and Troicki defeated Pablo Carreno Busta and Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4 in the decisive doubles propelling Serbia to a dramatic 2-1 victory over Spain in a stirring final in Sydney.
Djokovic has attributed his past success to strong relationships.
Today, the bond between Serbian teammates and raucous Serbian fans who waved the nation's flag and tirelessly exhorted their team inspired Djokovic and Troicki to cross the finish line.
Often overshadowed by fellow icons Nadal and Roger Federer when it comes to crowd support, Djokovic was energized by Serbian fans today and paid tribute to them in victory.
"I want to express my gratitude to Serbian fans for their support, which was I think was the key," Djokovic said. "I'm being fully honest now: I've never experienced the atmosphere on a tennis court like this. I've never had so much support of my matches of matches of all our Serbian team like we did in this 10 days.
"You guys definitely carried us to this victory and we owe you a great, great thanks from the bottom of our hearts. Thanks."
Spanish No. 2 Roberto Bautista Agut opened the final defeating Dusan Lajovic 7-5, 6-1, to put the defending Davis Cup champions one win from the ATP Cup.
A focused Djokovic defeated Nadal for the eighth straight time on hard court 6-2, 7-6(4) in an impressive performance to send the dizzying drama into the climactic doubles at Ken Rosewall Arena.
Nadal, the reigning Olympic gold-medal doubles champion, opted out due to the lingering fatigue from his recent singles battles with David Goffin, Alex de Minaur and Djokovic.
"I have been playing a lot of tennis in last couple of days," Nadal said after bowing in singles. "My teammates have been playing great yesterday. My level of energy is a little bit lower than usual because I played long yesterday, very long before yesterday, very long the last day.
"So it's a team decision and we believe in our team that's why we had success in the past. Because we are able to give confidence to the rest of the players. We give confidence to Feliciano and Pablo they are doing well."
Spain started strong breaking to open when a tight Troicki badly bungled a forehand sitter into net. The Spanish side continue to try to break down Troicki, but the Serbian pair stood tall angling passing shots from the baseline.
Down 1-3, the Serbian pair stormed through seven straight games to take a one-set, 2-0 lead that they never relinquished. Djokovic darted a body serve into Carreno Busta's body to clinch the Cup celebrating with a victory flop.
Ten years ago in Belgrade, Djokovic swept Gael Monfils to level and Troicki defeated Michael Llodra as a spirited Serbian squad rallied for a 3-2 win over France to win its first Davis Cup.
Today, Djokovic and Troicki again delivered under immense pressure staking Serbia to a record that will never be broke: first ATP Cup champion.
"When you play singles in this competition, it never feels lonely," Djokovic said. "You actually always have the team in your corner. The team that is supporting you and carrying you all the way and giving you courage and giving you strength and focus when you need it the most.
"And that is something that I take aways as probably the highlight of this competition: the team spirit."