A 2-0 lead on the opening day emphatically proves that Serbia “knows how play to play tennis”, said a confident captain, Bogdan Obradovic.
Obradovic stated that the two victories on Friday were especially commendable in the absence of its top three players — Novak Djokovic, Viktor Troicki and Janko Tipsarevic.
“We are the second-ranked team in the world, which means that we know how to play tennis. We have developed a system to promote young guys like Filip Krajinovic. He has sacrificed many weeks by travelling with us around the world. He has picked up a lot of good things by playing with Novak, Janko and Viktor. The benefits are showing now,” said Obradovic.
“We don’t have the money to invest in tennis. We are a very poor country, but we are very competitive. We have the knowledge, talent, and the genes to develop great players,” he said.
Speaking about the two rubbers, the visiting captain said that the Indians’ recent inconsistent form helped his side. “I know that in the last year, (Yuki) Bhambri and Somdev (Devvarman) did not get perform as well as my players. We felt that their confidence will not be high. If your game does not work in front of a home crowd, the energy will go down,” he said.
For Krajinovic, the tie gave him an opportunity to prove a point. “This was my chance to show everyone that we can play,” the 22-year-old said.
Somdev Devvarman admitted that his side would find it “very tough” to force its way back into the tie.
“It is going to be very tough. This is a very good Serbian team. But, I’m still hopeful of a comeback because we did not get blown away today.”
