• Davis Cup

Brilliant Djokovic draws Serbia level with France

World No. 3 Novak Djokovic knew the importance of getting Serbia on the scoreboard and duly delivered with victory over Gilles Simon © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Serbia claim historic victory
  
• News: France claim doubles victory to lead Davis Cup final
  
• Profile: Novak Djokovic | Gael Monfils | Gilles Simon

The Davis Cup final remains finely poised heading into Saturday after Novak Djokovic avenged Janko Tipsarevic's defeat to Gael Monfils by destroying Gilles Simon to draw Serbia level with France in Belgrade.

After Monfils had despatched Tipsarevic with consummate ease, Serbia, appearing in their first final, could ill-afford to fall 2-0 down and they had Djokovic to thank for levelling matters at 1-1 with a 6-3 6-1 7-5 destruction of Simon at the Belgrade Arena.

With the home team trailing, the world No. 3 knew the size of the task ahead and he put down an early marker by holding his first service game to love. Simon, who had not beaten Djokovic since their first meeting in 2008, was also on his mettle from the start as both players played confidently from the baseline.

An exhilarating tactical battle ensued, with both players favouring to stay back and manoeuvre the other around the court. Djokovic made the first breakthrough at 3-3, however, showing speed and athleticism to force his opponent into making mistakes. Simon saved two break points but still lost the game when he failed to retrieve a drop shot.

Djokovic, who is prone to lapses in concentration, almost let Simon back in but managed to save a break point and see out his service game. Too many unforced errors from Simon in game nine allowed Djokovic to wrap up the first stanza.

Simon had the look of a beaten man after Djokovic raced through the second set but a much-needed service hold at the beginning of the third showed the Frenchman still had plenty in the tank. Unfortunately for Simon, Djokovic continued to dictate points and therefore the match. A single break appeared to be enough for the 2008 Australian Open champion but he squandered two match points when serving at 5-4 to gift Simon the break back.

The Serbian No. 1 shrugged off the minor blip to break back immediately before closing the match out to the roar of the home crowd.

Earlier, Serbia's team captain Bogdan Obradovic opted to go with world No. 49 Tipsarevic over the higher-ranked Viktor Troicki for the first singles rubber and the decision backfired as Monfils romped to a 6-1 7-6(4) 6-0 victory.

Sensing his opponent was nervous, Monfils showed no mercy in the opening set before Tipsarevic rallied to make the second set far more competitive. But, after Monfils won the tiebreak, it was all one-way traffic, with Monfils winning to remain unbeaten in Davis Cup singles rubbers this year.

Monfils said: "I'm really happy with the result. Janko started off with two double faults, and straight away I saw that he was tense. That helped me to relax a little."

The match continues at 1400 GMT on Saturday, with Serbia's Nenad Zimonjic and Troicki taking on the French pair of Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra in the doubles.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.