Advertisement

Help
You are here: Rediff Home » India » Sports » Tennis » Reuters > Report
Search:  Rediff.com The Web
Advertisement
   Discuss   |      Email   |      Print | Get latest news on your desktop

Ljubicic plays down record bid
Alan Crosby
Get Sports updates:What's this?
Advertisement
December 03, 2005 10:46 IST

Forget records, Ivan Ljubicic would rather have Sunday off.

The 26-year-old Croatian gave his country a 1-0 lead in the Davis Cup final with an efficient straight-sets win over Karol Kucera on Friday before Dominik Hrbaty levelled the tie for Slovakia.

The victory gave Ljubicic, ranked ninth in the world, a perfect 10-0 balance sheet in this year's competition, a record for live rubbers.

He has a chance to equal John McEnroe's [Images] 1982 Davis Cup record of 12-0, though three of those wins came in dead rubbers, as Croatia chase their first Davis Cup title.

With a victory in Saturday's doubles, Ljubicic would then be able to match McEnroe by winning his reverse singles on Sunday against Hrbaty.

"Honestly, I am not thinking about breaking any records," he told reporters after his 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win over Kucera.

"I really don't care about that record. If we had won 3-0, I wouldn't have played on Sunday.

"But I am happy to have won the 10 live rubbers in a row."

BRILLIANT SEASON

Ljubicic, who has matched his stellar Davis Cup performance with an almost equally brilliant season on the ATP Tour, including 16 consecutive wins at one stage and two titles, was full of praise for the Croatia fans.

"It's fantastic, it's really helping us to play in a relaxed atmosphere," he said.

"I'm really glad so many Croatians showed up. I would say its 50-50 in the stadium."

Croatia captain Niki Pilic said he never doubted that Ljubicic would give the team a winning start.

"He was full of confidence, I have a feeling he never thought he was going to lose the match," said Pilic. "He was playing extremely well."

Hrbaty's 7-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 triumph over Mario Ancic means Ljubicic will definitely play on Sunday against the Slovak number one.

Before that he will be in action with Ancic for the doubles rubber against Hrbaty and Michal Mertinak.

"In my head were two scores after the first day, 1-1 or 2-0 to us," said Pilic. "We now have to concentrate on the doubles."

 



© Copyright 2008 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
 Email  |    Print   |   Get latest news on your desktop

© 2008 Rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer | Feedback