Cameron Norrie stated that he will treat Novak Djokovic like any other opponent when he competes against Serbia in the “Final 8” round of the Davis Cup on Thursday. The winning team will earn a spot in the semi-finals.
“I will go out there and be true to myself, giving it my all and taking the match to him,” stated Norrie, the top-ranked player from Britain. “It is a great honor to face him and compete in the Davis Cup. I have already faced him in several important matches.”
“I am eagerly anticipating the challenge of playing against Serbia. We are all prepared and motivated for the game. Despite the opponent being a talented player, I will give my best effort and put my all into the match.”
After barely making it past the group stage in Manchester with a complete team, Great Britain has faced major setbacks before the quarter-final in Málaga. Dan Evans and Andy Murray, ranked second and third respectively in singles for Britain, have both been unable to participate in the competition.
Not too long ago, not having a single top-100 British player would have led to almost certain loss. However, the fact that the current squad is still strong and has a lot of potential shows how deep their team is. Joe Salisbury, the recent doubles champion at the US Open and ATP Finals, and Neal Skupski, the Wimbledon doubles champion, have taken the place of Murray and Evans. Liam Broady, who recently made it into the top 100, rounds out the team.
Leon Smith, the captain of Great Britain, stated that one advantage of this system is that it provides clarity for everyone involved. There is no uncertainty about who will be playing or waiting for a decision from the captain. This lack of ambiguity could work in our team’s favor.
Norrie is aiming for his best victory yet against the world’s number one player. However, it is more probable that the outcome of the match will be determined by the performance of each team’s second-ranked player. The pressure will be on Jack Draper to secure a win in the singles match. The 21-year-old has been on a hot streak, winning an ATP Challenger tournament and making it to his first ATP final in consecutive weeks.
Serbia have a wealth of talented top-60 singles players to choose from, with Laslo Djere, Dusan Lajovic and Miomir Kecmanovic all former top-30 players. The No 33 Djere played a significant role in Serbia qualifying for the quarter-finals and the athletic 28-year-old seems to be the likely opponent for Draper. Serbia would clearly prefer to win both singles rubbers against lower-ranked opponents rather than fight through a decisive doubles rubber.
“We don’t have any dedicated doubles players on our team,” Djokovic stated. “We primarily focus on singles matches, but if necessary, we are prepared to team up in various combinations and put forth our best effort.”
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For Djokovic, the turnaround since defeating Jannik Sinner in straight sets to win a record seventh title at the ATP Finals has been sharp. Instead of celebrating a spectacular conclusion to his individual season in Turin, he was, less than a day later, on a flight here to prepare for the final event of the year.
“I mentioned several months ago, at the start of the season, that winning the Davis Cup is one of my top goals for this year and always has been,” Djokovic stated. “I hope to be able to make a valuable contribution to our team’s victory.”
In any case, this will be a momentous event. Among the four quarter-finals, which are all anticipated to have high attendance, the match between Serbia and Great Britain has received the most attention. It is predicted that up to 5,000 British supporters will be present at the stadium on Thursday, including those who reside in or near Málaga and those who have traveled from other countries. There will also be a significant number of Serbian fans in the sold-out 9,000-seat Palacio de los Deportes.
