In a dramatic come-from-behind victory, France has taken the lead in the Davis Cup finals over Serbia on Saturday, as the French doubles pair of Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra fought their way back from a two-set deficit at the Belgrade Arena.
The victory by Clement and Llodra over Serbian doubles players Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki 3-6 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 7-5 6-4 now puts France back on top with two wins against Serbia's single point in Davis Cup play. France now leads 2-1.
The early momentum before the capacity hometown crowd in Belgrade was with the Serbian pair, Zimonjic and Troicki who dominated play in the opening set, and fought off an evenly matched French pair with a powerful volley by Troicki to end the tie-break in the second set.
However, Clement and Llodra, facing elimination, came back strong in the third, taking command of the set and holding back a rally by the Serbs. In the fourth set, at the pivotal 5-5 game, Clement broke the Serbian pair, turning the momentum around.
By the fifth and final set, the buoyant French pair were on top of their game, looking for the win. Breaking the Serbian pair at the outset, the impressive French pair maintained their advantage. The Serbs fail to capitalize on an opportunity to break the French near the end of the set to draw even.
A confident Llodra, holding up under the pressure of the moment, ended the stunning comeback in routine fashion.The next scheduled match in the best-of-seven Davis Cup final is between Novak Djokovic and Gael Monfils.