AN ATP MASTERS SERIES EVENT
13th - 21st OCTOBER
ATP News : 2005
Ljubicic Shuns Talk of Perfect Davis Cup Season
Ivan Ljubicic hopes to cap his banner season this weekend by leading Croatia to victory in the Davis Cup final against the Slovak Republic in Bratislava. The Slovak Republic is also chasing its first Davis Cup crown in the final
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Ljubicic insists his opportunity to equal John McEnroe’s perfect 1982 Davis Cup season is a distant second on the priority list to delivering to Croatia its first Davis Cup title in history. The Slovak Republic is also chasing its first Davis Cup crown in the final, which runs Friday December 2 through Sunday December 4. Ljubicic has a perfect 9-0 record in singles and doubles this year after an extraordinary performance in Davis Cup. He is bidding to match John McEnroe's perfect 1982 season when he won eight singles and four doubles rubbers. Ljubicic has a 56-23 match record in 2005 after winning two titles (Metz, Vienna) from eight finals and has finished ninth in the INDESIT ATP 2005 Race. Ljubicic said that despite his breakthrough season, he would only feel satisfied with his year if Croatia wins the final – regardless of whether he equals McEnroe’s record or not. “[My Davis Cup wins] were fantastic, all of them, but if we lose in the final it will be easy to forget them,” Ljubicic told DavisCup.org radio. “I just hope we can win the title and I can enjoy the whole year. I’m going to finish in the Top 10 and if we can win the Davis Cup final then I can say the whole year has just been fantastic. “People are talking about me equaling McEnroe’s record but as I said during the semifinal against Russia I don’t care about that. I just want to win [for Croatia]. Even if I lose both my singles and we win by winning Mario’s [Ancic] two singles and the doubles, that’s enough.” The Slovak Republic will be led by Dominik Hrbaty, who is 4-1 in Davis Cup singles this year, and Karol Beck, who scored a pivotal upset win over Guillermo Coria in the semifinal against Argentina. |