Novak Djokovic has called on by Serbia Davis Cup Captain, Viktor Troicki after the draw took place for the group stage. Djokovic was on the Serbian roster that clinched the maiden Davis Cup for the country in 2010. Now captain, Troicki was also part of the team that recorded the historic win.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion has represented his country in seven out of 11 competitions since 2010. Djokovic was very much on cards to play for the national team last year but couldn’t show up eventually because of personal reasons. A Novak-less Serbia smoothly qualified for finals group stage after defeating Norway 4-0. In 2022, Serbia was drawn among the Spain, South Korea and eventual champions Canada in the group stages and despite defeating South Korea and Canada, they didn’t make it to the knockout stages.
They will share almost identical group for 2023 tournament with Czech Republic substituting Canada. Troicki who retired from professional tennis in 2021 has shared his opinions on the draw.
“First of all, we are glad that this year we are in the group stage of the Davis Cup World Group.”
He continued, “We are in a similar group to 2022, playing again in Valencia and again against the host Spain, as well as South Korea, which we know extremely well. The new opponent is the Czech national team.”
Last year Serbian roster for the ITF tourney included Filip Krajinovic, Miomir Kecmanovic, Dusan Lajovic, Nikola Cacic and Laslo Djere.
While Troicki is confident about his team getting through the group stages, he is confident that having world #2 Djokovic on the roster could be the x-factor.
“I’m sure we can get through this group and qualify for the final competition in November. If our number one tennis player Novak Djokovic is in the team with him, we can definitely go far in this competition,” claimed Troicki.
As once again Serbia and Spain are falling in the same group, tennis fans are talking about a potential clash between the #1 seed Carlos Alcaraz and #2 seed Djokovic. In order to play at the Davis Cup this year, Novak will have to travel to Valencia for the group stage ties that are scheduled from September 12 to September 17. Later on knockout stage games will be played in Malaga.