2 Responses to belgrade09djokovic_kubot

1. Voo de Mar says:

   July 27, 2026 at 3:49 pm

   Points won by each set: | 31-24, 43-32 |
   Unreturned serves:
   28 % Djokovic – 20 of 69
   27 % Kubot – 17 of 61

   The inaugural edition of the Serbia Open (bought the license from Amersfoort, yet abandoned after four editions), held in Београд – the most important city of the former Yugoslavia. The local favorite, city’s finest son, Djokovic [3] was expected to conquer the title and he didn’t disappoint his staunch supporters. In the final he faced a totally unexpected opponent, Kubot [179], who lost in the last round of the qualifying event 6-7, 6-0, 0-6 to Hrbaty, but entered the draw as a “lucky loser” to win four matches not dropping a set. Therefore he was relatively fresh on a very hot day in May (30°), and played surprisingly well in the 2nd set. He led 5:2* not because of super serving or constant attacking to the net, he was simply more stable in baseline exchanges. As he was serving at 5:3, he decided to play three BH dropshots, something he hadn’t done since the opener, and lost all those points. From *5:6 onwards, Djokovic won 11 out of the last 12 points, and celebrated the success on his knees. “Although this is not one of the biggest tournament I’ve won, it means the most to me,” Djokovic told some 7,000 spectators that packed a makeshift tennis stadium on the banks of the Danube River. Before that event, the Serb had lost three straight finals in three straight appearances.

   Djokovic’s route to his 13th title:
   2 Janko Tipsarevic 6-2, 4-6, 6-0
   Q Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-2
   S Andreas Seppi 4-6, 6-1, 6-2
   W Lukasz Kubot 6-3, 7-6(0)

   Serve & volley: Djokovic 0, Kubot 2/4

   Log in to Reply
2. Voo de Mar says:

   July 27, 2026 at 3:59 pm

   ☆ Łukasz Kubot became the first Polish men’s singles main-level finalist in 26 years, ending a drought that stretched back to Wojtek Fibak in 1983. Fibak (b. 1952), unquestionably the best male player from Poland in the 20th Century, finished his career in the mid 80s, and for more or less twenty years, the Poles didn’t have a player who’d either regularly take part in the ATP tournaments or at least advance to the Top 100 thanks to the Challenger results. It lasted until Kubot (b. 1982) made his breakthrough reaching the US Open ’06 third round. He finished his career with two ATP finals, 4th round at Aussie Open ’10 (also defeated by Đoković) and quarterfinal at Wimbledon (2013), his highest ranking No. 41. The other Pole, who marked his name on tour in the 2000s it is Michał Przysiężny (b. 1984); his best ATP result comes from St. Petersburg ’13 where he reached the semifinal.
   The best Polish player born in the 60s, Wojtek Kowalski (b. 1967) never even played an ATP quarterfinal (he had a decent career at the Challenger level); the same applied to the best Pole born in the 70s – Bartłomiej Dąbrowski (b. 1972) – he never made a full transition from the Futures to the Challenger level.

   Log in to Reply