Serbia, Djokovic Choose Indoor Clay for 2018 U.S. Davis Cup Match-up

On Thursday Serbia’s tennis federation announced it will lay out the red dirt for former No. 1 Novak Djokovic when Serbia hosts the U.S. on Feb. 2-4, 2017 in the first round of the 2018 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas.

The former French Open champion Djokovic is expected to lead the Serbian squad, returning from an elbow injury that cut short his season this year. No. 2 singles for Serbia will likely be decided between No. 34-ranked Filip Krajinovic, No. 55 Viktor Troicki and No. 75 Dusan Lajovic.

The indoor clay court will be constructed at the Sportski Centar Cair in Nis, Serbia. This year the Serbs lost to France in the semifinals without the services of the injured Djokovic. Serbia is 2-0 against the U.S, winning on clay in Belgrade in the World Group first round in 2010, and on hard court in the U.S in the 2013 World Group quarterfinals.

U.S. captain Jim Courier will head the 2018 campaign looking to end a 11-year title drought for the Americans. He will call on No. 9-ranked Jack Sock, who this weekend is into the semifinals at the year-ending ATP Finals, No. 13 Sam Querrey, and No. 17 John Isner, in addition to Top 50-ranked Americans No. 44 Steve Johnson and No. 47 Ryan Harrison.

A U.S. victory against Serbia would see them advance into the quarterfinals, either hosting No. 2-seeded Belgium, who the U.S. is 4-0 against, or facing Hungary for the first time.

For more info go to www.daviscup.com.