LONDON (AP) ― Serbia did just fine without Novak Djovokic in the Davis Cup, while Russia’s shorthanded team was surprisingly eliminated by Austria on Sunday.
Serbia swept the reverse singles against Sweden to complete a 4-1 victory at home and set up a quarterfinal against the Czech Republic, with Janko Tipsarevic clinching the win by beating Michael Ryderstedt of Sweden 6-2, 7-6 (5), 7-5.
Dusan Lajovic then defeated Sweden’s Filip Prpic 6-4, 6-4 in the last match.
Djokovic skipped the first-round series to rest up after winning the Australian Open, but he was hardly missed against a Sweden team that was without Robin Soderling, who is sidelined with a long-term illness.
Russia had a harder time without its highest ranked player, Mikhail Youzhny, who was struggling with a sore shoulder and wasn’t picked for the singles matches. Jurgen Melzer eased past Alex Bogomolov Jr. 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 to clinch the series for Austria, which reached the quarterfinals for the first time since 1995.
New Austria captain Clemens Trimmel said the victory was a “giant success that cannot be rated high enough.”
“I take my hat off to the whole team,” Trimmel said.
Two-time champion Russia, which was also without the 49th-ranked Dmitry Tursunov, lost its opening tie for a second straight year.
The Austrians will have a tougher task next, as they face defending champion Spain.
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
