Viktor Troicki was named the captain of the Serbian Davis Cup team on Friday. He will replace doubles legend Nenad Zimonjic.
The 34-year-old had helped Serbia win their very first Davis Cup title in 2010 and remains an important member of the team. Though his career has been setback by injuries, Troicki has not retired yet.
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“It’s a dream come true,” said Troicki, who has been given a four-year team. “I didn’t expect that it would come so soon but definitely it was something that I was looking forward to.”
Troicki added that though he was the captain Novak Djokovic remained Serbia’s most important player.
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“Novak Djokovic was as surprised as I was. He didn’t want to get involved too much,” Troicki told Novosti.RS, quashing rumours that Zimonjic’s leaving had anything to do with the World No 1.
“His goal was for the Davis Cup to stay with the younger ones and for them to carry the national team and for him to be there to help. (Filip) Krajinovic, (Dusan) Lajovic, (Miomir) Kecmanovic, (Laslo) Djere, they are all younger than our generation that won the Davis Cup.
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“Novak is the main member and a lot depends on him. He wants to slowly give way to the younger ones. Not to be confused, he did not say that he would retire, but we will see when he can play. Of course he will be available.”
Davis Cup dates announced
The ITF has announced dates for the Davis Cup World Group I and World Group II ties, which were originally scheduled to take place in September 2020.
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The 24 home-and-away ties will be played during either the week commencing March 1, 2021 or the week commencing September 13, 2021. All the ties in 2021 will be subject to strict health and safety protocols.
Week commencing March 1
World Group 1
Argentina v Belarus
Pakistan v Japan
Slovakia v Chile
Ukraine v Israel
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Week commencing September 13
Bolivia v Belgium
Uruguay v Netherlands
Finland v India
Norway v Uzbekistan
Lebanon v Brazil
New Zealand v Korea Republic
Romania v Portugal
Peru v Bosnia and Herzegovina
