By Erik Gudris / Friday, November 15, 2013

 

Playing in Belgrade, Novak Djokovic helped Serbia take an early lead in the Davis Cup finals. Tomas Berdych
soon leveled the tie for his Czech team heading into Saturday's doubles.

Photo Credit: AFP/Getty

After day one of the Davis Cup finals in Belgrade, the Czech Republic and Serbia find themselves tied at 1-all heading into Saturday's pivotal doubles rubber.

READ - Davis Cup Finals Preview

Novak Djokovic kicked off the opening singles match against the hero of last year's finals, Radek Stepanek. Though Djokovic enjoyed having home court advantage and the cheers of his country to urge him on, that loud support almost became a hindrance to Serbia's most famous tennis player in the early stages.

Serving to level the set at 4-5, Stepanek was often interrupted during his service motion by yelling and noise from the vocal Serbian crowd before each point. Stepanek eventually reached game point, but now it was Djokovic's turn to be distracted. A whistle in the crowd prompted Djokovic not to hit his return as a Stepanek ace whizzed by him for 5-all.

But at 6-5, Djokovic soon closed out the set thanks to an earlier heroic effort on the point before to chase down a dipping Stepanek volley. Djokovic reeled off a crosscourt winner that left the crowd ecstatic and with a backhand pass winner a moment later, he sealed the first set 7-5.

A weary Stepanek let the second set get away from him as he was unable to win a single point on his serve in the last two games. With that, Djokovic pocketed the second set 6-1.

With a break at 5-4 in the third, Djokovic served out the match to clinch the 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 victory to extend Djokovic's current winning streak to 23 in a row.

“The match started well for both of us," Djokovic said about the match. "We served well but this surface is slower than the one I played on in Paris and London. I tried to be aggressive, he was mixing up the pace and the first set was very close. After that I managed to feel better on the court.”

Berdych Teaches Lajovic Lesson with Straight Sets Win

In a matchup that might have been called "Dutzee vs. Goliath," unheralded Dusan Lajovic (whose Twitter handle is @Dutzee) found himself thrust into one of the biggest moments of his career versus Davis Cup veteran Tomas Berdych.

Lajovic, currently ranked No. 117, was given the difficult task of trying to stop Berdych in the second singles rubber. While Lajovic acquitted himself well, the young Serbian had few answers for Berdych's massive serve.

Never facing a break point during the entire match, Berdych took control early by seizing the first two sets 6-3, 6-4.

Though Lajovic held 0-30 on Berdych's serve in three straight service games in the third set, Berdych responded. The Czech managed to win four straight points in each of those danger moments to hold serve each time and put the pressure right back on Lajovic.

Not seeking to spend anymore time on court, Berdych broke Lajovic in the final game to close out the convincing 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win to level the tie at 1-all.

Although Saturday's doubles is currently scheduled to be between Jan Hajek and Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic versus Serbia's Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic, changes in both teams are expected. Berdych and Stepanek are 18-1 as a team in Davis Cup doubles and could get the nod for the Czechs. Djokovic himself could also see action in the doubles on Saturday.