Serbia ousts U.S in Davis Cup Opener March 08, 2010 For the first time in its brief spell in the prestigious Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group, Serbia has scored a win and in doing so has secured a place in the quarterfinals to play Croatia at home on 9-11 July. It took him six match points but Novak Djokovic, the world No. 2, gave Serbia a historic victory over USA when he defeated John Isner 75 36 63 67(6) 64 in a marathon match that lasted four hours, 16 minutes. Some of the tennis played was exceptional and while Djokovic rightly celebrated, the agony swept over Isner who has to be praised for the amazing effort he put in across the weekend playing singles and doubles. On and on the match went and the players were getting more and more weary. They still dragged their bodies from one side of the court to the other as they stretched and lunged for returns in an atmosphere that was pretty special. In the end, Djokovic just managed to scrape out the victory after so many opportunities. Djokovic makes most of early chances The opening set stayed relatively level but Djokovic got the first sniff of a chance when he had two break and set points in the tenth game. Isner saved the first with a smash and the second was also thwarted when Djokovic sent a forehand long. Then in the 12th game the Serb got another chance. He played a sensational stretch backhand cross-court that floated past Isner to bring up set point. This time Djokovic timed the return perfectly. He struck a forehand cross-court winner that whizzed past the American who was making his way to the net. He had no chance of cutting off the angle. Djokovic stretched out his arms with his first clenched as he yelled and bolted towards his courtside bench with captain Bogdan Obradovic applauding. By contrast Isner slammed his racket into the ground totally annoyed with himself. A game later and the emotions were pretty much reversed. Djokovic opened the second set and promptly dropped his serve. Well, the racket he had used up to then was no longer usable. Into the clay court it went, and then again and once more for good measure. Isner was really putting the pressure on Djokovic and he was so close to scoring a second service break in the third game when he had four break points. He did, however, keep pressing and Djokovic cracked in the ninth game and Isner got his second break and the second set when Djokovic netted a backhand. The crowd was doing all it could to lift the world No. 2 as the noise levels kept increasing. It worked because he broke serve in the fifth game when Isner double faulted on break point. In the next game, Djokovic had to fight hard to keep the advantage, which he did, as he faced two break back points. Isner served to stay in the set but facing his second break point he double faulted, and that gave Djokovic the crucial lead he was looking for. Serbia was now just one set away from winning a Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group tie for the first time. The fourth set saw neither player hold a break point but in the tenth game the crowds noise reached a fever pitch when Djokovic was two points from the match on Isners serve. Isner made it 40-30 but then double faulted and that got the fans roaring once more, but Isner still managed to hold on. They went into a tiebreak and Isner scored a mini-break straight off. He also led 3-0, but the third point was awarded to Isner when Djokovic was given a warning for the second time. The American had two set points at 6-4, but Djokovic saved them. Then the Serb played a poor point. He hit two cross-court inside out forehands but in doing so opened the court for Isner to go down the line, and he did just that to get a set point. Djokovic then hit a ball narrowly wide to surrender the tiebreak 8-6. In the fifth set, Djokovic broke Isner in the fifth game and the crowd roared its approval. He picked up on the positive vibes and after four hours, one minute, Djokovic got his first match point. But Isner, exhausted on his legs, saved it with a winner, match points two and three were also fended off as Isner held serve. The Serb then served for the match only to see the fourth and fifth match points also saved. But number six was on Djokovics racket strings and this time it happened, a serve to Isners forehand resulted in a return to the bottom of the net. Djokovic threw his arms and dropped to his knees. (BACK)