With the pressure on, Serbia found a way to reach the quarterfinals at the United Cup on Tuesday when it edged past Czech Republic in the decisive mixed doubles match.
Olga Danilovic and Hamad Medjedovic walked onto court against Czechs Miriam Kolodziejova and Petr Nouza needing to win one set to advance to the last eight. After losing the opener, Danilovic and Medjedovic rallied to earn a dramatic 4-6, 7-5, 10-8 win.
Roared on by Novak Djokovic and the rest of the team, Danilovic and Medjedovic produced big-time tennis to win Group E and set a quarterfinal clash against Group C winners Australia on Wednesday night. Group A winners Poland will play China.
Earlier in the tie, Marketa Vondrousova earned her first win of the season, downing Danilovic 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
Danilovic, 22, was facing a Top 10 player for just the third time in her career, and fell just short of her second win in just over 2 hours on court. Her best victory by ranking came against then-No.10 Julia Goerges at the 2018 Moscow River Cup, a tournament she famously won as a 17-year-old lucky loser.
Vondrousova, meanwhile, bounced back after losing to Zheng Qinwen in three sets in the Czechs' 3-0 loss to Saturday. But it didn't come easily for the reigning Wimbledon winner and World No.7 against an opponent ranked more than 110 places below her.
"She was playing a good match and I'm happy I won in a third set," Vondrousova said afterward. "I just kept fighting and it was a very tough match."
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After a first set that was closer than the scoreboard indicated -- Danilovic had a break point in the first game, two more in the third, and two game points in the sixth -- the Serb won 12 of the first 14 points of the second set to stake her claim to a 3-0 lead. Though Vondrousova hit back to win three straight games of her own, Danilovic won the next four to not only pocket the middle set but go up a break to start the decider.
The Czech won five straight games from there, and though she failed to serve out the match in her first attempt at 5-1, she made no mistake in the second.
Serbia rebounded to send the tie into a deciding mixed doubles. Novak Djokovic overcame a tricky test from Jiri Lehecka to level the tie at 1-1. The ATP World No.1 struggled with a wrist problem throughout the match and recovered from a second-set dip, where he squandered a 3-1 lead, to eventually defeat the 22-year-old 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-1 in 2 hours and 18 minutes.