Quarter-Finals - Serbia v Great Britain: Day 1, Part 2 Davis Cup


Quarter-Finals - Serbia v Great Britain: Day 1, Part 2

Similar Content

Browse content similar to Quarter-Finals - Serbia v Great Britain: Day 1, Part 2. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

Welcome to the Davis Cup. We may be talking quite a bit because more

:00:30.:00:39.

rain is expected. Get in touch. And look at our Facebook page as well.

:00:40.:00:43.

We would love to hear from you. This is the scene once again. Hopefully,

:00:44.:00:52.

the stands will fill up. We can hear the students from Stirling

:00:53.:00:55.

University making their presence felt. The players are back on court.

:00:56.:01:00.

They are completing the warm up. That is the good news. The bad news

:01:01.:01:05.

is that we have heard there could be a thunderstorm. Hopefully we could

:01:06.:01:14.

get a lot more play. 2-1 to car -- Kayal Edmond. Let's join our

:01:15.:01:15.

commentators. We've had three games so far and the

:01:16.:01:25.

pool is more full than this morning and could be very full a little bit

:01:26.:01:32.

later on. A lovely sports complex here. Much

:01:33.:01:40.

of the noise is coming from the wonderful British tennis supporters

:01:41.:01:44.

from sterling university. No matter where you put the tie, they're going

:01:45.:01:47.

to get there and make themselves heard. They are on the right of your

:01:48.:01:51.

picture, making a big difference here, it must be said, to all the

:01:52.:02:02.

players in the tie. The dignitaries in position. Getting

:02:03.:02:16.

ready for this first match. Best of five matches in Davis Cup, two

:02:17.:02:21.

singles today. This is the Serbian number two, Janko Tipsarevic, a

:02:22.:02:27.

former world number eight. He's with his captain. Bogdan... I've tried to

:02:28.:02:40.

say his name about 15 times. I can't say it, John. A brilliant doubles

:02:41.:02:49.

player there. He will be required on Saturday.

:02:50.:02:54.

Doubles on Saturday, reverse singles on the final day.

:02:55.:03:22.

21 years of age, Kyle Edmund. This forehand, we've been talking about

:03:23.:03:27.

already, it can get through the court even in heavy conditions. It's

:03:28.:03:31.

a big weapon, no doubt about it. Tipsarevic will have to go

:03:32.:03:34.

down-the-line to keep him honest. Number 67 in the world at the

:03:35.:04:05.

moment. That's a career high by one place for Kyle Edmund. He's one

:04:06.:04:08.

place above Aljaz Bedene now. Once again the pressure from the

:04:09.:06:35.

Edmund forehand keeping Tipsarevic on the run and it's a break of

:06:36.:06:37.

serve. This young man leading the way for

:06:38.:06:58.

Britain, Andy Murray, on the side lines for the tie. But he's

:06:59.:07:02.

supporting his team-mates. He's present in Belgrade. The Wimbledon

:07:03.:07:12.

champion, but this is number one. A lot of errors at the moment from

:07:13.:07:17.

Tipsarevic. He looks a bit tight to me. He's an experienced Davis Cup

:07:18.:07:20.

player. But he's been out for such a long time now. He looks like he's

:07:21.:07:24.

trying to find his way at the moment. Not getting much length on

:07:25.:07:31.

the court. He's allowing Edmund to dictate the

:07:32.:07:32.

vast majority of these rallies. He plays quickly between points,

:07:33.:08:18.

Kyle Edmund. He rushes opponents. He rushes the forehand. He can dictate

:08:19.:08:24.

play. He's an awkward customer, especially on the slower surfaces.

:08:25.:09:33.

Tipsarevic was beaten here, the execution not quite there. He is

:09:34.:09:40.

dictating at the moment, Edmund. Well constructed point there from

:09:41.:10:36.

Edmund. Even on the backhand side, he just has that ability to step up

:10:37.:10:41.

the pace. We've seen it on the forehand, again, it seems to me, at

:10:42.:10:50.

the moment, that he's in the driving seat in these rallies. Tipsarevic,

:10:51.:10:54.

at the moment, is not hitting the ball deep enough to keep Kyle Edmund

:10:55.:11:01.

pinned back. There's been way too many middle-court balls, allowing

:11:02.:11:03.

Kyle Edmund to get on the front foot. He's played very well so far,

:11:04.:11:10.

seemingly not nervous at the moment. For Tipsarevic, he's got to start

:11:11.:11:14.

engaging in some longer rallies here to push Kyle Edmund, see how he is

:11:15.:11:18.

physically. At the moment, these rallies are pretty short and he's

:11:19.:11:22.

allowing the Brit to dictate the points. This is the world team

:11:23.:11:29.

championship, if you like, the World Cup of tennis. Britain are the

:11:30.:11:33.

defending champions, the first victory last year in Belgium on a

:11:34.:11:37.

clay court, where a young Kyle Edmund made a debut in the final. In

:11:38.:11:45.

front after dorg fans he won the first two sets against David Goffin

:11:46.:11:51.

only to lose in five sets. This is only his second singles match.

:11:52.:11:57.

Serbia without of services of Novak Djokovic.

:11:58.:12:12.

Tipsarevic, who's been out with foot injuries and surgeries and 17 months

:12:13.:12:20.

out full on, probably a few weeks before he took the time off and a

:12:21.:12:25.

few weeks after, it really just, you can take those out as well. It's two

:12:26.:12:28.

years plus really he's been affected.

:12:29.:13:01.

Born in this very city, 32 years ago. A proud Serbian tennis player.

:13:02.:13:12.

A proud Serbian. Champion nation in the Davis Cup in 2010.

:13:13.:13:35.

Even though he missed that forehand, again you can just see the

:13:36.:13:44.

difference of pace. Kyle Edmund in comparison with Tipsarevic, he goes

:13:45.:13:48.

through the court fastier, heavier. ( Tipsarevic needs to start getting

:13:49.:13:53.

some length. That's a real strength of the

:13:54.:14:56.

Serbian player. Hasn't had much time to bring it into play yet, John. No,

:14:57.:15:01.

that's about his best shot. I think he is going to have to go behind

:15:02.:15:06.

Kyle Edmund a lot more than he has done. Otherwise Edmund sits in that

:15:07.:15:11.

middle of the court and go out wide on the backhand. Then he can

:15:12.:15:15.

dominate with the forehand or the one down-the-line.

:15:16.:15:30.

Just the pace on that shot, even though that hit the net, it was

:15:31.:15:34.

still too fast. That was an important hold. And the

:15:35.:16:46.

backhand down the line at 30-30 has played its part in keeping

:16:47.:16:51.

Tipsarevic in this set. A best of five set match, match one of a

:16:52.:16:59.

potential five, here. Two singles back-to-back today, a doubles on

:17:00.:17:03.

Saturday. And singles on the Sunday. Lots to look forward to.

:17:04.:17:28.

CHANTING. The trainers, the physios and

:17:29.:18:41.

players. Later on, James Ward will go for Britain against Serbia. Dusan

:18:42.:18:43.

Lajovic. They have got to stop this. Pascal

:18:44.:19:20.

Maria in the chair. There were two calls there,... Ladies and Inkerman,

:19:21.:19:30.

don't make calls during play. Just leave that to the officials. This

:19:31.:19:37.

was the second of the two. That was called out by somebody in the crowd.

:19:38.:19:43.

Kyle Edmund of the sea with no idea of where the call came from. --

:19:44.:19:49.

obviously. CHEERING.

:19:50.:19:56.

And you will notice between first and second serves, a lot of people

:19:57.:20:01.

are calling out and there is hissing. This is Davis Cup. They

:20:02.:20:05.

will hiss and savings and they will find out what your mum and dad are

:20:06.:20:14.

called! Allsorts of things. Well, the good thing, the crowd is pretty

:20:15.:20:21.

sparse. If this was packed, with 6000, you would hear a noise. But I

:20:22.:20:25.

suppose, because of the absence of Novak Djokovic and because of the

:20:26.:20:32.

weather, the crowd as they let in -- the crowd is a lot less vocal and it

:20:33.:20:35.

is the British supporters that you here.

:20:36.:20:46.

New balls, please. Great Britain lead 5-2. I have seen some extremely

:20:47.:20:55.

hostile crowds in Davis Cup. Some of the worst calls made by linesmen

:20:56.:21:00.

have happened in Davis Cup. It has all contributed to the rich history.

:21:01.:21:05.

They have changed it now, because at least they have better refereeing.

:21:06.:21:10.

In the old days, you would get the locals giving you footfalls all the

:21:11.:21:13.

time. There was nothing you could do about it apart from standing for

:21:14.:21:21.

feet behind the line on cell. And in Italy, they would throw coins at

:21:22.:21:28.

you. Dashed behind the line on serve. You either embrace Davis Cup

:21:29.:21:35.

will you don't. And it looks as if so far, as Kyle Edmund went in the

:21:36.:21:40.

final, he has played spectacularly. For a while. At the end in that

:21:41.:21:49.

final, his legs were individually. Tremendous Davis Cup debut. So far,

:21:50.:21:54.

he looks at the experienced player out here. That has surprised me and

:21:55.:21:58.

at the moment, Tipsarevic is surprised at the weapons that the

:21:59.:22:03.

coming up against him. With the big first serve and that forehand.

:22:04.:22:08.

Edmund is getting a lot of quick, cheap points at the moment, which is

:22:09.:22:10.

what he wants. A very good start. Oh, unlucky. He has taken the ball

:22:11.:23:20.

very early, try to not get pinned down behind the baseline. He is

:23:21.:23:22.

taking the ball more on the rise. CHEERING.

:23:23.:23:51.

A very good second serve. Get a lot of work and a lot of cake in that

:23:52.:23:58.

second serve. A good wrist snap. -- a lot of kick. He uses his legs,

:23:59.:24:00.

strong legs. Nice disguise, as well. That is a

:24:01.:24:14.

stronghold and he is asking Kyle Edmund a question here in this game.

:24:15.:24:17.

It will be intriguing to see how Edmund handles this.

:24:18.:24:32.

Well, he knew, going into this match is that the Kyle Edmund forehand is

:24:33.:25:14.

a shock to try to get into play. He skips to his left, trying to cover

:25:15.:25:19.

his backhand. That leaves that gap down the line if you get your

:25:20.:25:24.

technique and timing spot on, which Tipsarevic didn't, on that occasion.

:25:25.:25:43.

CHEERING. GB FANS CHANT.

:25:44.:26:25.

CHEERING. Fantastic play. A couple of big

:26:26.:26:37.

forehand is there. That is the one that really won the point. From

:26:38.:26:42.

there, he is not going to miss this one. But he can create power from

:26:43.:26:46.

anywhere in the court with that shot. Tipsarevic at the moment

:26:47.:26:48.

cannot find a way to that weapon. And it a great start for Great

:26:49.:27:18.

Britain in the quarterfinal. In defence of a title that they won

:27:19.:27:23.

last year. Kyle Edmund has won the first set. Just the one break of

:27:24.:27:29.

serve and no sign of the rain, just yet, either. Which is even more good

:27:30.:27:34.

news. But we here it is coming.

:27:35.:27:39.

STUDIO: A great start for Kyle Edmund. Jamie

:27:40.:27:45.

Baker has been walking with me. A very confident performance from Kyle

:27:46.:27:51.

Edmund. Yes, it looks like he has done his homework and prepared.

:27:52.:27:54.

After he lost at Wimbledon, he would have spent a lot of time working on

:27:55.:27:59.

the clay. He looks comfortable. It's worth mentioning that in the break

:28:00.:28:03.

Tipsarevic has had, he has been out of the game and not able to improve

:28:04.:28:08.

and everybody else has been improving. It looks a little bit as

:28:09.:28:12.

if he has dropped back in and the game has moved on a bit. It is the

:28:13.:28:16.

power and pace of the Edmund forehand he is struggling with. And

:28:17.:28:20.

if we look at the stats, Inglot more winners from Carl than front of

:28:21.:28:27.

serve it. Not such a great first serve percentage but not so

:28:28.:28:31.

important on clay. Tipsarevic has not looked so good. No, he looks

:28:32.:28:38.

better in the first three games before the initial rain delay. But

:28:39.:28:43.

when he came after the rain, it was a sloppy start. Really the story of

:28:44.:28:47.

the first set has been the domination of the Edmund forehand.

:28:48.:28:51.

So I think the Serbian patterned along with Tipsarevic, will have to

:28:52.:28:55.

find a way to disrupt that rhythm and how to keep the ball away from

:28:56.:29:00.

his forehand. And if you are Leon Smith, you are saying to Kyle, more

:29:01.:29:05.

of the same, please. His attitude and demeanour on the court is

:29:06.:29:09.

absolutely right. He is looking very comfortable. He has been in many

:29:10.:29:14.

Davis Cup squad but only played in one rather, that match against David

:29:15.:29:20.

Goffin in the final. This is only his second one. He has not won one

:29:21.:29:25.

of these. So he will be absolutely focused to get one of these.

:29:26.:29:32.

But I can tell you that Lucas Russell is serving for the match for

:29:33.:29:39.

a one only -- 1-0 lead against Wilfred Tsonga in the Czech Republic

:29:40.:29:45.

versus France match. Also Victoria Azarenka issued a statement on

:29:46.:29:49.

social media to say that she is expecting her first child at the end

:29:50.:29:53.

of the year and will return to the sport after that. So Victoria

:29:54.:29:57.

Azarenka is pregnant and expect in her first child at the end of the

:29:58.:30:02.

year. We wish her well. COMMENTATOR:

:30:03.:30:06.

. What a surprise, how delightful. Very much missed from the game. But

:30:07.:30:09.

a more important thing in tennis, for sure. Second set. First set to

:30:10.:30:16.

Kyle Edmund, quarterfinal of the Davis Cup.

:30:17.:30:47.

The voice of Andy Murray in the background. Encouraging Edmund.

:30:48.:31:10.

And an important passage of play at the beginning of the second set. Not

:31:11.:31:16.

one-way traffic in the first set, but Kyle Edmund, as Jamie Baker was

:31:17.:31:21.

saying, certainly dominating. You feel like he has got the weapons to

:31:22.:31:23.

win this match. Tipsarevic trying to find his way

:31:24.:31:29.

in. If you are Kyle Edmund, you would

:31:30.:32:02.

like to see Tipsarevic going for a winner from this position on the

:32:03.:32:06.

court. If you can keep making him do that, good luck. He might make one

:32:07.:32:10.

occasionally, but the percentages are not in his favour. Excellent

:32:11.:32:12.

point from Edmund. That was a chance. Tipsarevic is

:32:13.:32:45.

trying to link the ball into play. He is trying to buy himself time. --

:32:46.:32:51.

loop the ball into play. Every rally, it is trying to keep Edmund

:32:52.:32:57.

back. But the difference is the sound of the shot went Kyle Edmund

:32:58.:33:01.

hits the ball. It goes through the court. At the moment, Tipsarevic,

:33:02.:33:04.

not much pace. Height over the net, not quite

:33:05.:34:25.

enough top-spin. Nothing feels worse than getting duffed up in front of

:34:26.:34:31.

home fans. And in his home city. Break point down.

:34:32.:34:43.

CHEERING. Not this time. Massive break. Close

:34:44.:34:54.

fit from Captain Leon Smith with Andy Murray supporting in the

:34:55.:34:59.

background. But self back into that rally, didn't he, Edmund? -- got

:35:00.:35:07.

himself. Some excellent defence. This is a perfect start. It really

:35:08.:35:13.

is. And obviously, Davis Cup, we have seen how much it can change.

:35:14.:35:18.

But the first set and bad break, it looks like the matches almost in

:35:19.:35:26.

Kyle Edmund's hands. -- the first set and that break. It doesn't look

:35:27.:35:30.

as though Tipsarevic can hurt him. Where he can hurt him is with his

:35:31.:35:34.

experience. If the match gets closer, that may come through. But

:35:35.:35:40.

in terms of the tennis side, I don't see how Tipsarevic can hurt him. He

:35:41.:35:44.

has not got enough pace on his ground strokes, he can't hurt in

:35:45.:35:48.

with the serve. And Kyle Edmund is the one moving his opponent around.

:35:49.:35:50.

Superb start. Well, that's a magnificent shot. It

:35:51.:36:14.

is only the second one we have seen, that backhand down the line which is

:36:15.:36:18.

his favourite shot. In that rally, he was more aggressive from the

:36:19.:36:24.

start. And again, that is a tough shot, not easy to keep making those.

:36:25.:36:27.

A long way behind the baseline. In these conditions, they are heavy

:36:28.:36:50.

out there. The atmosphere is heavy, the court is heavy. But Kyle Edmund

:36:51.:36:54.

can hit through it. He has that kind of pace.

:36:55.:37:14.

CHEERING. Well, a well worked point. SERBIA

:37:15.:38:12.

FANS CHANT.. Starting to get a little more aggressive, with these

:38:13.:38:21.

ground strokes, Tipsarevic. A couple of rallies in this game where he has

:38:22.:38:23.

taken charge. You can see there, it is raining,

:38:24.:38:58.

you have the unwell is up. If this was grass, they wouldn't be playing.

:38:59.:39:05.

Not heavy enough to stop it. -- the umbrella is up.

:39:06.:39:26.

SERBIA FANS CHANT. We haven't seen many of those type

:39:27.:39:35.

of points, where Kyle Edmund has picked the wrong shot to attack on.

:39:36.:39:41.

From where he was, percentages were a bit low. Generally speaking, he

:39:42.:39:43.

has played these points very well. We have seen him run out of energy a

:39:44.:40:05.

couple of times, and these emotionally charged matches, which

:40:06.:40:09.

is what representing your country in the Davis Cup is about, they do take

:40:10.:40:14.

it out of you. Last five minutes or so, as Edmund tries to back up this

:40:15.:40:18.

break of serve, a couple of errors that he would not have made in the

:40:19.:40:20.

first set. Let, second service. Rushing in

:40:21.:40:34.

little bit, perhaps, Kyle Edmund? CHEERING.

:40:35.:40:52.

GB FANS CHANT. Oh, in these conditions, with the

:40:53.:42:03.

rain falling in Belgrade, that is a piece of physical strength is just

:42:04.:42:09.

when he needed it. His tennis balls become like cannonballs.

:42:10.:42:34.

CHEERING. Admirable resistance as Tipsarevic

:42:35.:42:47.

mounted a challenge to him, there. And now Kyle Edmund from Beverley in

:42:48.:42:52.

Yorkshire, British number one for this Davis Cup tie, a chance for

:42:53.:42:56.

2-0. And Andy Murray first on his feet to

:42:57.:43:10.

applaud that hold. That is a mini battle won. Definitely getting

:43:11.:43:18.

extremely wet on the court servers now and one wonders how long they

:43:19.:43:26.

can continue this first match. One or two people voting with their feet

:43:27.:43:31.

and heading out of this very impressive arena in Belgrade. And

:43:32.:43:40.

surely this decision will be in part informed by what is expected here,

:43:41.:43:44.

which is perhaps a thunderstorm and more rain. Tipsarevic is saying, I

:43:45.:43:57.

am happy to carry on. Floodlights on, but menacing clouds overhead. So

:43:58.:44:01.

much of this weather seems to have been following the tennis tour all

:44:02.:44:05.

the way from Monte Carlo in the springtime in the clay of the Monte

:44:06.:44:09.

Carlo country club, through the Italian open in Rome, certainly

:44:10.:44:16.

Queen's Club affected, Wimbledon as well. But play will continue. One

:44:17.:44:23.

set and 2-0, Kyle Edmund. CHEERING.

:44:24.:44:38.

I think generally, when you are down a set and a break, you want to get

:44:39.:44:44.

off. But I think Tipsarevic started -- felt he was starting to get the

:44:45.:44:48.

momentum. Even though he lost that, he had break points.

:44:49.:44:56.

That is huge. There is no doubt he knew what he was going to do there,

:44:57.:45:06.

took off early, way outside the tramlines, total confidence in that

:45:07.:45:11.

shot. And John Lloyd, is the message it sends. You don't want to be

:45:12.:45:15.

hitting a weak second serve to that, next time. Perhaps you draw a double

:45:16.:45:20.

fault or a weaker second serve as a result.

:45:21.:45:57.

next time. Perhaps you draw a double fault or a weaker second serve as a

:45:58.:46:08.

next time. Perhaps you draw a double not we get any tennis on day one

:46:09.:46:08.

remains to be seen, You could understand why Tipsarevic

:46:09.:48:34.

didn't really want to go off. He is starting to find his range now and

:48:35.:48:38.

that is important when you have had such a long time away. It is two

:48:39.:48:43.

things, it is very draining to keep going on and off and also quite

:48:44.:48:48.

rightly at the start of the first 30, 35 minutes he looked a bit

:48:49.:48:53.

shocked by the pace and the power that Edmund was bringing to the

:48:54.:48:57.

court but he will get used to that, that is a factor of him having

:48:58.:49:01.

missed so much tennis. He doesn't want to have to start again because

:49:02.:49:05.

he was quite slow out of that box after the rain delay. Kyle Edmund is

:49:06.:49:11.

looking assured, good news the Lyon Smith because he is the future. It

:49:12.:49:22.

-- for. This is his time to be the number one player and the story of

:49:23.:49:29.

the match so far and the concept of Tipsarevic being overpowered, it has

:49:30.:49:33.

all been down to the forehand, the big first serve and the forehand and

:49:34.:49:37.

he can hit the forehand from anywhere so Tipsarevic will have to

:49:38.:49:41.

think about what he does strategically because if he goes to

:49:42.:49:45.

the backhand Kyle Edmund can stand in the corner and play the forehand

:49:46.:49:51.

all day. This is him taking the opening set, playing better and

:49:52.:49:55.

better. You thought, will he be nervous, but he isn't showing any

:49:56.:50:00.

sign of nerves. Not at all. Tipsarevic Bidwell quite well to

:50:01.:50:21.

hold at 5-2. -- did quite well. He had broken the Tipsarevic server and

:50:22.:50:31.

then got two break points himself. It was that the point where there

:50:32.:50:34.

was definitely a temptation to go into the open court, and then again

:50:35.:50:43.

the break point, finding the big ace. He definitely used up some good

:50:44.:50:51.

strength to get that one. It shows what weapons he has. John Lloyd, he

:50:52.:50:57.

is looking so assured out there. It is so impressive because when you

:50:58.:51:04.

have and the lorry in -- Andy Murray in the team, you think, we have two

:51:05.:51:10.

wins, you think if we don't win it is not a big deal. But this match is

:51:11.:51:18.

so huge. They have obviously discussed the way to go after

:51:19.:51:21.

Tipsarevic, I don't think Tipsarevic was expecting this, they have done

:51:22.:51:28.

their home work, yet he has managed to hit through the court so well.

:51:29.:51:33.

Tipsarevic has to find a way to get back into the game, the backhand

:51:34.:51:38.

down the line, he has to get him off that perch where he is, native. He

:51:39.:51:43.

has missed a couple down the line because Kyle is making him try to go

:51:44.:51:51.

for winners. At the moment it is tough for Tipsarevic to come back

:51:52.:51:56.

into this match. Kyle at the moment, although we have seen it before, so

:51:57.:52:02.

we can't get ahead of ourselves, but he is dominating and Tipsarevic will

:52:03.:52:07.

be worried. You have been Davis Cup captain, what is your role now? Do

:52:08.:52:11.

you talk to your player, leave them alone? Both players, there will be

:52:12.:52:23.

different, says. Kyle Edmund, the coach will be calm, he will be

:52:24.:52:29.

saying, you are looking confident, just keep doing it. Tipsarevic's

:52:30.:52:34.

captain will have to be saying, listen, you have to start getting

:52:35.:52:38.

better length, you have to hurt the forehand, go down the line a bit

:52:39.:52:42.

more, be more aggressive. I thought he was more aggressive in the second

:52:43.:52:47.

set and I thought it looked like he was getting his form back but the

:52:48.:52:51.

rain came and he didn't manage to break Kyle Edmund. To me he was

:52:52.:52:55.

looking a bit better but at the moment no weapons. What we were

:52:56.:52:59.

talking about Andy Murray with Evander Lendl, they will be talking

:53:00.:53:08.

about all of the positive things. -- Ivan. I am sure he will want to

:53:09.:53:18.

speak to him but not too much. The coaching team have been fantastic,

:53:19.:53:21.

they do their homework on opponents and it really does look like,

:53:22.:53:26.

because it is something to focus on, there are so many opportunities to

:53:27.:53:31.

be distracted high pressure in Davis Cup but they so good at just

:53:32.:53:37.

focusing on the match, what do I have to do, how do I broke down --

:53:38.:53:42.

break down the opponent? They are really good so I think they will be

:53:43.:53:45.

focusing too much on that because you don't want to burn too much

:53:46.:53:50.

energy thinking about it, just keep it up. Another person who has to sit

:53:51.:53:55.

and wait probably for quite a long time is Britain's James Ward, he

:53:56.:54:00.

will be on against Dusan Lajovic, and he is a player who has achieved

:54:01.:54:07.

some vital wins the great Britain in some big tyres.

:54:08.:54:11.

Any issues switching from grass to clay? Obviously I was on it until

:54:12.:54:20.

Tuesday, Wednesday myself, so maybe a few days extra, but I think it

:54:21.:54:24.

will be the same for everybody. How do you think about your form

:54:25.:54:27.

generally? We have discussed this before but it has been a tough year

:54:28.:54:33.

for you, struggle to get wins on the full tour. It has been difficult, a

:54:34.:54:38.

few things off court as well as some injuries, which hasn't made it easy

:54:39.:54:43.

to play the schedule I would have liked to have played, so from the

:54:44.:54:48.

outside looking in it has maybe been frustrating for people but even more

:54:49.:54:52.

so for myself, but hopefully for the rest of the year I can now crack on

:54:53.:54:56.

and try to get back to the level I was playing at last year. You said

:54:57.:55:02.

no hesitation in accepting the offer to come and play. Are you trying --

:55:03.:55:07.

that was one personal sacrifice you have made this week. Yes, I missed

:55:08.:55:13.

two tournaments by coming here but I have always played for my country

:55:14.:55:16.

when asked and the competition means a lot to me, you saw that last year,

:55:17.:55:21.

for the last five years I have played, I was there from the start

:55:22.:55:26.

so every time I have been asked to play I have done so. When the

:55:27.:55:32.

ranking starts dropping so fast it is hard, you have to go do some

:55:33.:55:36.

strange parts of the world to play in challengers. It is difficult

:55:37.:55:42.

James Ward because last year at Wimbledon he made the third round

:55:43.:55:46.

and build a fantastic relationship with his coach, Darren Handley, who

:55:47.:55:51.

tragically passed away at the end of last year. -- Darren Tandy. Darren

:55:52.:56:03.

was like mental skills coach as well so that really helped James Ward.

:56:04.:56:08.

This year having that happen has been extremely difficult and with a

:56:09.:56:11.

few injuries he has not been able to play. On the Davis Cup scene he has

:56:12.:56:15.

been fantastic over the last few years, always playing above himself.

:56:16.:56:24.

The win against Isner from two sets down, somebody of his ranking you

:56:25.:56:29.

would never imagine it. Talking about raising your level of play, he

:56:30.:56:35.

took it to a whole new level. He did, that is what you want from a

:56:36.:56:41.

Davis Cup player, some players who have higher rankings play good and

:56:42.:56:44.

some who have lower way above the rankings. Hopefully this will be the

:56:45.:56:49.

tie that will kick start him back to where he wants to be. He was in the

:56:50.:56:54.

top 100 and looking good and it has been unlucky for all of the things

:56:55.:57:04.

he has dealt with. He is good enough to get back again so it is one of

:57:05.:57:07.

those things where he has to be a bit patient and this Davis Cup will

:57:08.:57:12.

be a welcome break for him because if he can win a match or two who

:57:13.:57:16.

knows what his Wang Qiang could be at the end of the year? -- his

:57:17.:57:23.

ranking. It is a bit chicken and egg with James Ward because as his

:57:24.:57:28.

ranking drops he has to play in the small tournaments. He plays above

:57:29.:57:31.

himself in the big tournaments but he has to when the matches in the

:57:32.:57:39.

day-to-day matches to get into those tournaments. -- he has to win. Even

:57:40.:57:47.

Andre Agassi had to go back. No ball kids, changing the scoreboards

:57:48.:57:53.

himself. I think he dropped to 140 in the ranking, it was admirable,

:57:54.:57:57.

you are used to playing in front of thousands in the Davis Cup and you

:57:58.:58:01.

are playing in front of about three people and it is tough, it is dog

:58:02.:58:06.

eat dog in the challenges but he has come through before, he can do it

:58:07.:58:14.

again. -- in the Challengers. If you go out 1-0 up, it is the different

:58:15.:58:22.

ball game. It is raining still, I feel sorry for the poor students.

:58:23.:58:30.

They are used to rein in Scotland but they wouldn't have been

:58:31.:58:38.

expecting this in Belgrade. -- rain. It looks like the students have

:58:39.:58:43.

given up, they have headed for cover. We were told the thunderstorm

:58:44.:58:48.

would come through and it looks like that is the case so again we are

:58:49.:58:52.

going to leave you on BBC Two, we will take a break, we are going on

:58:53.:58:57.

and off a bit like the covers in Belgrade but hopefully we will have

:58:58.:59:02.

more tennis view. Kyle Edmund, Britain's number one in this

:59:03.:59:07.

Dip into a summer of amazing live music,

:59:08.:59:11.

Tickets are still available for the BBC Proms.

:59:12.:59:20.

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS