Davis Cup Final: Clement/Llodra d. Troicki/Zimonjic

Category: Tennis

Publish Date: 12-04-2010 02:37 PM -0500

Should Davis Cup captains devote two of their four roster spots to a doubles pairing? It's a question that's been debated for some time. At most, doubles accounts for one-third of the points in a tie, and if the countries go the distance, that fraction dips to one-fifth. But slotted as the third match, doubles always represents a pivotal point that teams covet.

U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe showed that the strategy has merit in 2004, when the Americans—Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish and doubles stars Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan—reached the final, and in 2007, when the brothers clinched the title. French captain Guy Forget proved its worth again today. In a match of immense importance, the natural pair of Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement looked all but cooked, but they fought back against the shotgun marriage of Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki to give France a 2-1 lead over Serbia. The stunning turn of events forces Novak Djokovic to beat Gael Monfils if Serbia is to have any chance at claiming its first Davis Cup.

France lost the first two sets of today's match, but they were hardly given away. Serbia converted on a single break in the first and prevailed in a second-set tiebreaker. If blame must be assigned, it falls on the shoulders of Clement, who struggled at times on serve. But he atoned for any missteps in the fourth and fifth sets, both while serving and returning.

In the fourth set, with Serbia leading 4-3, Clement fell behind 15-40 on his serve. The subsequent two points were essentially match points. But the spectacled bandana man single-handedly dug his team out of the deficit, winning the first point with an unreturnable serve and the second with a picturesque serve and volley. After securing the game, Clement showed off his return skills—one of the major reasons France won in the end. At 5-5, Clement struck a clean backhand winner off a Serb serve, giving France a 15-30 advantage. When break point soon arrived, Clement delivered again, lofting a lob that grazed the baseline. France wouldn't relinquish the lead.

Llodra was heroic himself, especially in the fifth, when Clement was again down 15-40 on his serve. By this point, France had already taken the lead—they broke Serbian fans' hearts and their opponents in the first game of the final set—but losing the edge would have swung the momentum completely towards the home side. Calmly, the French amis employed their game that's helped win them numerous doubles matches on tour, and held serve after a Llodra volley put-away.

The loss—3-6, 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-5, 6-4—is crushing to Serbia. To win, Djokovic must beat Monfils, then Janko Tipsarevic or Troicki must win the pressure-packed last match. If it gets to that point, expect Llodra to get the nod over Gilles Simon.

When a doubles player has that kind of versatility, it makes the captain's decision to take his teammate a lot easier.

—Ed McGrogan

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