The Russian tennis federation (RTF) crew has gained the Davis Cup title for the primary time since 2006 after beating Croatia in Sunday’s closing in Madrid.
The closely fancied Russian crew clinched an unassailable 2-0 lead after Danill Medvedev defeated former US Open champion Marin Cilic in straight units, 7-6 (9-7) 6-2, within the second singles match of the tie.
Andrey Rublev had set Russia on their method earlier within the day with a hard-fought victory in his singles match towards gutsy 23-year-old Croatian Borna Gojo, 6-4 7-6 (7-5).
The outcomes meant the doubles match was rendered irrelevant as Russia took the title dwelling for the primary time since they defeated Argentina on dwelling soil in Moscow 15 years in the past.
Sunday’s closing in Spain was the primary time a Russian crew had reached this stage of the event – which is essentially the most prestigious in males’s worldwide crew tennis – since they confronted off towards the USA in 2007 in Portland.
Russia have now gained the Davis Cup 3 times within the event’s illustrious historical past, with their different titles coming in 2002 towards France in Paris in addition to their Moscow triumph in 2006.
RUSSIAN MEN’S TENNIS ON THE UP
With Medvedev and Rublev of their ranks – who’re rated second and fifth on this planet respectively – the Russian crew had been among the many robust favorites heading into this 12 months’s 18-nation Davis Cup Finals, the place they had been formally competing underneath the banner of the nationwide tennis federation attributable to ongoing WADA sanctions.
Alongside Medvedev and Rublev had been Karen Khachanov and Aslan Karatsev, each top-30 gamers who performed their half within the doubles matches on the way in which to the title.
En path to the decisive tie of the event, the RTF quartet had crushed Ecuador after which hosts and defending champions Spain in the course of the round-robin stage, in addition to Sweden within the quarter-finals earlier than overcoming Germany within the semi-finals on Saturday.
Croatia, the 2018 champions, had crushed Novak Djokovic’s Serbia of their semi-final however had been unable to match the spectacular Medvedev and Rublev within the Spanish capital.
The outcome capped a powerful 12 months for Russian males’s tennis as Medvedev, 25, gained the US Open in September, changing into the primary male star from his nation to win a Grand Slam title for 16 years.
Compatriot Rublev, 24, ends the 12 months at a career-high rating of world quantity 5 and in addition scooped Olympic gold in Tokyo within the blended doubles alongside Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the place they beat compatriots Karatsev and Elena Vesnina within the closing.
The Russian males’s crew that includes Medvedev, Rublev, Karatsev and Evgeny Donskoy additionally gained the 2021 ATP Cup held in February in Melbourne.
RUSSIAN KINGS AND QUEENS HOLD COURT
Russia now holds essentially the most prestigious worldwide crew titles in each males’s and girls’s tennis, after Sunday’s success in Spain adopted the triumph within the Billie Jean King Cup (previously generally known as the Fed Cup) by feminine Russian stars in November.
READ MORE: Russian feminine tennis stars hail ‘unbelievable’ cup win (VIDEO)
Russia had been topped ladies’s world champions after beating Switzerland in November. Reuters
Women’s star Pavlyuchenkova, 30, went all the way in which to the ladies’s singles closing on the French Open earlier within the 12 months, changing into the primary Russian feminine participant to achieve that stage of a Grand Slam since Maria Sharapova performed Serena Williams within the Australian Open closing in 2015.
(RT.com)