Lajovic Puts Serbia On Brink Of ATP Cup SFs

Dusan Lajovic gave Serbia a 1-0 lead against Canada in the Final Eight of the inaugural ATP Cup on Friday, defeating #NextGenATP star Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2 in one hour and 40 minutes.

There were dozens of Serbian flags flying throughout Ken Rosewall Arena, with a large Serbian contingent backing its man in the first match of the day. The fans were loud in their support of the World No. 34, who dominated rallies of eight shots or less 66-49, mostly by playing more consistent tennis. 

Auger-Aliassime was not firing at his best against the Serbian, spraying his forehand at key moments. The Canadian made 32 unforced errors.

Lajovic, who went 2-1 in Group A play in Brisbane, gives World No. 2 Novak Djokovic a chance to send their country into the semi-finals when he faces Denis Shapovalov in a rematch of the 2019 Rolex Paris Masters final.

Djokovic leads Shapovalov 4-0 in their ATP Head2Head series. But one thing Shapovalov has going for him is that the only country in which he has taken a set off Djokovic is Australia, doing so at last year’s Australian Open. Djokovic has won nine of the pair’s 10 sets by a margin of 6-4 or greater.