Slovaks take control against Dutch
The Slovak Republic took a 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup quarterfinal tie against
the Netherlands after Karol Beck and Michal Mertinak teamed up to win the
doubles on Saturday.
Beck recovered from his five-set marathon loss to Peter Wessels on Friday to
lead his country in the 57 63 64 75 defeat of Dutch pair Paul Haarhuis and
Melle van Gemerden.
The Slovaks are bidding to reach the semifinals for the first time and now just
need victory in one of Sunday's two reverse singles.
Beck’s participation had been in question after he visibly wilted in the
fifth set against Wessels the previous day, but while he had clearly recovered,
it was the Dutchman who was replaced by Davis Cup debutant van Gemerden.
Beck produced some penetrative lobs as Slovakia moved into the driving seat,
and it was his unreturned serve on match point that sealed the victory in four
sets.
"I played five sets yesterday and I was physically and mentally tired, but with
the help of the doctor and masseur I felt fine this morning and believed that I
would play well," said Beck after completing a remarkable recovery.
"Dominik Hrbaty said before the match that if we won the doubles he would win
the singles tomorrow so I don’t have to play again," he joked.
Hrbaty will play Wessels in Sunday's opening singles.
Slovak captain Miloslav Mecir was pleased with his team’s performance and seemed
relaxed afterwards, but he said they would be taking nothing for granted.
"I’m very happy with the play of both players," he said. "It was a tough
decision to choose the line-up because yesterday’s matches were very tiring.
"But this doubles pairing played very well against Spain [in the previous round]
and I thought they would play well again today.
"The first set was good for the Netherlands but our players were not warmed up,
and after that they played better and played some good lobs.
"My feet are firmly on the ground, though, because I know the most difficult
part of this tie is still to come."
The Netherlands, calling on the experience of 39-year-old doubles specialist
Haarhuis, who officially retired at last year's first round tie against Canada,
were quickest out of the traps, breaking the Slovaks in the third game.
They were broken back when trying to serve out the set at 5-4 after Haarhuis
netted a drop volley but immediately followed that with a second break and took
the set 7-5.
From there on it was the Slovaks who took control and the dejected Dutch camp
admitted the better pair had won.
"They played a good match, they returned well, they played good second shots
and they served well," said Haarhuis.
"We had chances in the match and they will feel they did too but in the end we
came up short.
"I never felt we would lose the match, even when we were two sets to one down,
but at 5-5 [in the fourth] we were broken and then it was all over."
Captain Tjerk Bogtstra admitted his side faced an uphill battle to qualify for
a semifinal showdown with either Argentina or Australia.
"We all know what we have to do, we have to win two singles matches and I think
tomorrow morning we will be ready to do that.
"I think we can win, why not? Many things can happen in the Davis Cup."
After Hrbaty plays Wessels, Beck will probably face Raemon Sluiter, although
the Dutchman was suffering with cramps today.
Copy provided by Reuters
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 59.115.132.96
NED-BEL-LUX 近期熱門文章
PTT體育區 即時熱門文章
