Novak Djokovic completed double duty in Madrid on Wednesday, leading Serbia to the Davis Cup Finals semi-finals.
Djokovic won his singles match against Alexander Bublik 6-3, 6-4, then soon returned to the court to join Nikola Cacic in a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 triumph over Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov, giving Serbia a 2-1 lead over Kazakhstan.
"I'm proudest of the fighting spirit. We had a little drop energetically in the second set, but we managed to bounce back. The start of the third set was crucial the first couple of games to hold our nerves, try to switch the momentum to our side and that's what we managed," Djokovic said "I'm proud of Nikola, proud of this team and I think we deserve to be in the semi-finals."
In group play, Cacic and Djokovic lost a deciding doubles match to Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz of Germany. They were victorious this time, with Cacic hitting a crucial forehand return to end the match.
"This is our third match played together and every match is better. We are getting better on the court," Cacic said. "We had a little bit of a problem in the second set actually, I got a little bit tight... But we managed to come back in the third set and I'm really happy."
Serbia had no room for mistake after Mikhail Kukushkin defeated Miomir Kecmanovic 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(11) in the first rubber, which Kecmanovic served for in the third set.
Djokovic, on the other hand, remained focused throughout the day. With a solid performance against the big-serving Bublik, who even threw in an underarm serve in the penultimate game, the World No. 1 even the tie. Djokovic maintained his focus throughout the match, defeating Bublik then returning to win the doubles rubber. In the semi-finals, Serbia will face Croatia.