УРЫ!! Но тяжеловато что-то...

Russia has taken a 1-0 lead in the first round Davis Cup by BNP Paribas tie against The Netherlands.

Dmitry Tursunov defeated Raemon Sluiter in a close match 67 64 76 76. 'This was a must-win match', Sluiter said. ' Now we can only hope or dream, to be realistic.'

Sluiter didn't think the match should have been close: "There was a difference in class during the whole match, it may have been small but it was definitely there. Tursunov was clearly the better player today. Most of the time I was just trying to hang on."

Chances for Sluiter

However, there were a few moments when Sluiter could have beaten the odds. At 5-4 in the third set, Tursunov served for the set but had his serve broken, not helping himself with five double faults in that game.

"I like to make it a little dramatic," said Tursunov. "And maybe the crowd helped him as well a little bit. But that's what you expect, when there's 9,000 Dutch in the crowd and maybe 18 Russians or so."

So when Sluiter confidently served to a 6-5 lead, he suddenly looked favourite to win the match, 'even when it went to a tiebreak' said Sluiter.

"'But where I played that tiebreak well, he played it brilliantly."

With both players serving strongly, with many serves of over 200 km/h, the fourth set inevitably went to a tiebreak as well. At 5-4 down, Sluiter said he played his worst point of the match, when a weak forehand ended up in the net.

"I played a pathetic tiebreak, really," he said, using some stronger language on live Dutch television.

Sluiter said his concentration had been on a high level for the whole match, apart from that one point: "Just a little moment of doubt. So my practice of meditation almost fully paid off," said Sluiter, who has taken up meditation in the last few months as a way of relaxing and focusing before matches.

Tursunov took his chance

Tursunov pounced to close his first appearance in the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas. Tursunov is the lowest-ranked player on the Russian team, but still he was picked as the second singles player, after Nikolay Davydenko.

"I don't know why the captain picked me. Perhaps it was because he wanted to give me a little experience of a live match in the Davis Cup."

Sluiter had a different view on that: "I think they took a good decision in playing Tursunov. I like to play patient players like Andreev and Youzhny, when I can be the aggressive player. But Tursunov plays a quicker game than me, so that was tough."

Davis Cup brings so much more pressure, says Tursunov

Winning a singles match in the Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is a significant step in his career, Tursunov said.

"Coping with the pressure of representing your country is incomparable to any other match, I can say now. I mean, I played horrible in the first set and that was only down to nerves."

In the second rubber Davis Cup by BNP Paribas debutant Melle van Gemerden plays Russia's number one Nikolay Davydenko.

"I just told him to enjoy it," said Sluiter. "Let's see if it helps."

Отредактировано Sena (2006-02-11 00:30:04)

УРА!!

Следующие сопериники - французы (мы уже их побеждали и без Марата). Они обыграли Германию 3-0.

Draw - http://www.daviscup.com/results/index.asp

Отредактировано Sena (2006-02-11 22:56:05)