Djokovic calms Serbia nerves

Djokovic, whose country's hopes of winning the trophy for the first time rest heavily on his shoulders, outclassed Gilles Simon for a 6-3, 6-1, 7-5 victory.

Saturday's doubles which, barring tweaks by either captain, will be between Serbians Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki and French pair Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra now takes on enormous significance in the 98th edition of the team event.

An expectant atmosphere in the 17,000-seater arena almost went flat as Tipsarevic imploded. After traditional folk dancers provided the pre-match entertainment and choirs of children sang the national anthems the home fans settled back in the hope Tipsarevic would given their team a flying start.

The bearded world number 49 could hardly have started in worse fashion, however.
He began with two feeble double faults and the errors continued to pour from his racket during a 6-1, 7-6, 6-0 drubbing that left him fearing the axe for Sunday's reverse singles. Wild horses would not keep Djokovic away as the world number three gave a solid display against Simon.