Djokovic drags Serbia into ATP Cup semifinals by defeating Shapovalov

Serbia defeated Canada in the quarterfinals at the 2020 ATP Cup after Novak Djokovic turned the match against Denis Shapovalov.

Canada was one of the two lucky teams that qualified among the Final Eight from the second place. There, they were facing Serbia with Novak Djokovic and the young Canadian team had to fight experience in the 2020 ATP Cup quarterfinals.

In the first match of the tie, Dusan Lajovic faced Felix Auger-Aliassime. The Canadian did not have an ideal week when he lost 2 out of the 3 matches he played. And this time, he struggled again. Lajovic defeated him 6-4, 6-2 and gave Serbia the lead.

Novak Djokovic was again the man, who could have decided it all. And again, he did. After defeating Anderson, Monfils and Garin 2-0, Shapovalov was the first player to take a set away from the world number two. However, after losing the first set 4-6, Djokovic fought back in the second and won the tie-break of the third to secure the place among the Final Four.

For the doubles, both countries nominated their players 4 & 5 as nothing couldn't change any more. Cacic & Troicki were facing Polansky & Shamasdin when they defeated them 6-3, 6-2 to complete the 3-0 victory.

After the match, Serbia's no.2, Dusan Lajovic shared his feelings about the tie, when he also spoke about moving from Brisbane to Sydney. “I can tell that I was feeling much more comfortable today than the whole time in Brisbane. I felt pretty relaxed and positive on the court from the first point. We started off pretty well, really high intensity rhythm. I was feeling that it was not something that I'm uncomfortable with. Then I was just waiting for one of us to start to open up and push a little bit more. And I was able to do that first and crack him in the first set. And I think that was the key today, that the one who stayed longer on this high level was the one who could prevail in the end.”