By Chris Oddo | Sunday March 6, 2016

When Mikhail Kukushkin took a two sets to one lead over Novak Djokovic in today’s first reverse singles rubber at Aleksandar Nikolic Arena in Belgrade, it appeared that Kazakhstan was about to do the unthinkable. But Djokovic rallied behind the patriotic fervor of the Serbian fans, and eventually overtook his opponent to the stage to Viktor Troicki to produce another storybook Davis Cup ending for Serbia.

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For Kazakhstan, which has dropped 2-1 leads to Switzerland, Australia and now Serbia on the road in the last three Davis Cup seasons, it was another painful heartbreak.

“I want to congratulate my opponent for a fantastic performance and he would have been a worthy winner too,” Djokovic said after his match. “The fans were fantastic and their support got me out of trouble at key moments in the match. I was in bad shape after the third set but fortunately I pulled through and won. My body told me several times during the match that it’s had enough but with this crowd behind me, my heart and mind prevailed.”

Djokovic’s odyssey, a 6-7(6), 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory that took four hours and 57 minutes to achieve, set the table for a simple, efficient effort from Troicki. He downed Alexsandr Nedovyesov, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, to set up a must-see quarterfinal battle with Great Britain.

More details on this tie to come…