In winning the Davis Cup on Sunday in a thrilling tie that went the distance against France, Serbia won its first Davis Cup in history and became the first nation ever to win the title without being seeded. Busted Racquet relives the day through pictures:
I tried thinking of another word to describe the atmosphere amongst the 15,000 fans in Belgrade Arena, but there's no better choice than "electric." The crowd was awesome.
With Serbia down 2-1 in the tie, it was up to Novak Djokovic to extend things to a fifth and final match. He was first up against Gael Monfils.
It went well for the Serbs. Djokovic won easily, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 and earned one of the signature victories of his career. The world No. 3 didn't lose a set in either of his two victories in the final. That set up the deciding match between Serbian Viktor Troicki and Frenchman Michael Llodra. Jelena Jankovic watched from the stands, rooting on her fellow Serbian tennis players.
Llodra, a serve and volleyer, was broken early and made faces like this throughout the match. Though the pressures of Davis Cup play can change the fortunes of a match in an instant (like in Saturday's doubles rubber), you had the feeling from the outset that Llodra was in for a long afternoon.
The crowd sensed it too, leading to a lot of moments like this:
It didn't last long. Winning in nearly identical fashion to Djokovic, Troicki won 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, setting off a frenzied celebration in Belgrade.
Llodra broke down after-the loss and was comforted by his teammates.
Troicki was put up on his teammates' shoulders and paraded around the court.
The French were gracious in defeat.
Everything about this picture is fantastic.
To celebrate, the Serbs shaved their heads before the trophy presentation. Djokovic didn't have much to cut. Janko Tipsarevic, who's doing the shaving in this picture, did. But, eh, he just got married, so who's he trying to impress? (Later, Tipsarevic would drunk-Tweet the celebration.)
They did the wave.
Serbia, 2010 Davis Cup champions.
Monica Keena Anne Marie Kortright Paige Butcher Amanda Peet Xenia Seeberg
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