JOIN USSerbia’s Davis Cup skipper Bogdan Obradovic refused to be drawn into a debate on the absence of Novak Djokovic, saying that the team needs to be prepared irrespective of who is here.
“The focus is to be prepared right now,” he said at the KSLTA on Thursday. “You will have to play point by point, game by game and set by set and that is it.”
There has been lots of talk on how the conditions might swing the tie in India’s favour but Dusan Lajovic said they were prepared for the matches.
“We have played in hot weather before – in Chennai where I believe it is even hotter than this,” he quipped. “But it’s good that we have practiced here for six days and have gotten used to the conditions a bit and we are prepared for the matches on Friday.”
Filip Krajinovic, who will play the other singles in place of Djokovic, said he had no problems about the unavailability of practice courts, something that the Indian contingent brought up on Wednesday. “Here it is actually better because we have three courts.
“Every time in the Davis Cup, there is only one court for practicing but we have three here. And I believe we are ready.”
Somdev Devvarman, who faces Krajinovic in the second match on the opening day, said he hasn’t played the Serbian in the last four years. “I played him a couple of times but I have not played him since 2010 and both of those matches were indoor and this is outdoor,” he pointed out.
“This is going to be a completely different match.”Sometimes, teams resort to identifying a player from the opposite camp as a weak link but Anand Amritraj, India’s skipper, dismissed the suggestion.
“It is going to be about how we play on the day,” he noted. “They are both equally good players. We cannot even target them in doubles. We must put our best foot forward and hope for the best.”