BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) With Serbia crippled by injuries and suspensions, all eyes will be on Novak Djokovic to lead his country to its second Davis Cup title against the defending champion Czech Republic.
The second-ranked Serb, who is on a 22-match unbeaten run, has to do what he has done numerous times in the past: win both singles matches to give the small Balkan country a chance in the best-of-five series starting Friday.
However, Serbia's chances were hit Thursday when Janko Tipsarevic was ruled out of the final with a heel injury. Serbia will also miss Viktor Troicki, the star of the 2010 Davis Cup home victory over France. Troicki is out because of a 12-month suspension for skipping a blood test in April.
Thursday's pitted Djokovic against Radek Stepanek and Tipsarevic's replacement, Dusan Lajovic, against Tomas Berdych in Friday's opening singles. The doubles are scheduled for Saturday and reverse singles are Sunday.
"It's a real drawback for our team that we don't have both Janko and Viktor," Djokovic said. "I hope that I can win the first match, the first point is very important as it could release pressure on Lajovic."