Lajovic Gives Djokovic Chance To Send Serbia To ATP Cup Final

Dusan Lajovic defeated Karen Khachanov 7-5, 7-6(1) on Saturday to put Team Serbia one win away from the final of the inaugural ATP Cup in Sydney.

Ken Rosewall Arena was flooded with Serbian fans, many of whom waved their country’s flag. There were even some supporters holding signs reading “DULE”, which is Lajovic’s nickname. And the 29-year-old did not let them down, hitting 26 winners to just 16 unforced errors in a one-hour, 49-minute triumph.

Novak Djokovic has gotten off to a fast start in the second singles match as well, winning the opening set against World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev 6-1 in only 31 minutes. Djokovic leads the pair’s budding rivalry 3-2, but Medvedev has won their two most recent matches, coming in Monte-Carlo and Cincinnati last year.

In theory, Khachanov’s powerful baseline game would overwhelm Lajovic, who made his first ATP Masters 1000 final at last year’s Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. But the Serbian has now won all three of his ATP Head2Head meetings against the 2018 Rolex Paris Masters champion. He has not dropped a set against the Russian.

On match point, Lajovic cracked a cross-court forehand that Khachanov couldn’t handle, pointing to the raucous crowd as he walked to the net as if to thank them for helping him through. The World No. 34 has now won four of his five matches at the ATP Cup, and he has not lost a set since arriving in Sydney for the Final Eight.

Khachanov fought hard to stay in contact in the second set, with Russian captain Marat Safin urging him in the late stages of the match to take deep breaths and stay calm. The World No. 17 showed plenty of intensity with two massive fist pumps after an incredible forehand passing shot while serving at 4-5.

But when the pair went to the second-set tie-break, it was all Lajovic, urged on by the Serbian fans. The 2019 Umag champion curled a tremendous forehand passing shot to take a 3/0 lead. And in the two points after that, Khachanov missed backhand returns, putting the match all but out of reach.v

Lajovic did not face a break point during his victory, winning 78 per cent of his service points.