Byzantine Blog

Hello, Elite!

Seventy years of Western-imposed common state in which former Serbian Kingdom and Serbian name was to be eventually wiped out by being jelled with formerly anonymous and non-existent “nations”, fifty years of foreign-imposed communism under the Croat/Slovenian dictatorship, decades of humiliation and continuous shunning, sanctions, wars, horrendous accusations, brutal lies and the most devious manipulations and pressures to keep Serbia underfoot, submerged in a surreal world of an eternal defeat in an eternal pariah state — the constant abuse no other nation in Europe has ever experienced — none of it has managed to crush the Serbian spirit: the small heroic nation has braved it all, to rise up under its ancient royal insignia once again, as an independent state, rightly proud of its name, history and heritage.

And proud of its young generation that was born and raised in the midst of Serbia’s darkest night, forging their determination and polishing their talents under the deadly rain of Western bombs, on borrowed money and in conditions every child and teenager bathed in American, British, German, French opulence and vanity would have cruelly laughed off as below bizarre.

So, when mocked, shunned and heavily bruised small Serbia gets into the top-tier-16 World Group without the burden of the rest of “Yugoslavia,” without, in fact, any other Yugoslav nation squeezing in (Croatia was crushed 4-1 by Britain) or having more than a prayer to even try to get in (like every other former Yugoslav republic), is it still the Elite World Group? You can bet your ass that it is — and even more so.

Sour Grapes

While the Serbs were thrilled to host former world No.1 and the great Australian tennis player Lleyton Hewitt, the fading star preferred to be hostile, acting like a capricious diva that was nothing but rude to his hosts. Nothing seemed good enough for him, starting with the clay surface in the Belgrade Arena which the former No.1 magnanimously condemned on day one as “the worst surface” he ever had to step on in Davis Cup. The rest of his team followed suit, faithfully echoing everything Hewitt says.

During the Sunday interview, one of top Serbian tennis players, Janko Tipsarevic who was on the verge of defeating Hewitt on Friday, said that every tennis pro who played in Davis Cup admits that the surface is always problematic during the first few days, especially clay surface in indoor arenas. Serbs were unpleasantly surprised with Australian players insisting on complaining about the surface, concluding that however bad it may have been for the Aussies, it must’ve been at least equally bad for the Serbs, since the half of the court Serbs played on wasn’t in a parallel universe, but exactly the same.

Janko Tipsarevic mentioned how offended he was when referee Mike Morrisey said two days ago, over a tiniest little hole he found on the surface: “Good that Hewitt wasn’t here!” [to see THIS], as if the Australian is a demigod of sorts, overshadowing that part of the globe with his presence, and all that really matters is that Hewitt is appeased, if he clearly cannot be pleased.

Move Over Australia, Serbia Gets In

After Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic defeated Lleyton Hewitt and Paul Hanley in doubles on Saturday, Serbia’s No.1 Novak Djokovic sealed his country’s victory against the Australians with a triumph over Chris Guccione who replaced Hewitt, after Australian star announced an hour before the start of the match he is suffering from gastroenteritis and won’t be able to play.

The eruption of joy when Djokovic secured Serbia’s place in the elite-16 World Group has rocked Belgrade and started the nation-wide celebration (RTS footage).

The official Davis Cup web site reports:

The crowd’s beloved Nole then threw himself on the ground, before his team surrounded him and gave him a tour of honour around the court on their shoulders. Djokovic had entered this court as a king and he was going to exit like one too. He thanked the public and his team and even the small group of Australian supporters for contributing to this weekend’s resonating success.

“Playing Davis Cup is a lot of pressure” said the Belgrade native. “I cannot explain how I felt during these last three days out there on the court. But I want to stress that this was not only my success, it was the entire team’s. We are happy and touched by the success and achievement of this weekend.” And those who have watched them play would probably say rightly so.

Serbia—Australia: 4—1

In the final, fifth Davis Cup playoffs match for the World Group, Serbian player Boris Pashanski defeated Australia’s Peter Luczak 2-1 [4-6, 6-3, 6-1], handing his country a near-perfect 4-1 score against the tennis nation second only to the United States in the 108-year Davis Cup history.

“It has been a great tie and this is a fantastic team success for Serbia,” Djokovic said after his teammates carried him around the Belgrade Arena court on their shoulders. “I feel absolutely fantastic that we have qualified for the Davis Cup top division and I’ve never experienced an atmosphere as electrifying as this one here in Belgrade,” he said, adding that “there was so much pressure and I am glad we rose to the occasion and lived up to expectations.”

“The flag you see here says that this is our land where no one can defeat us,” said Novak, addressing his team and elated Belgrade Arena crowd.

Asked to whom would he like to dedicate this victory, he responded:

“To my country!”