MARTIN CARPENA ARENA — Great Britain’s bid for Davis Cup glory was killed off with a match to spare as Novak Djokovic beat Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-4 in Malaga.
Earlier, Jack Draper admitted he had been “beaten by a better player” in a 7-6 7-6 defeat to Miomir Kecmanovic, a result that always left the Brits facing an uphill struggle.
Djokovic came into the clash with Norrie fresh from ATP World Tour Finals victory and a historic run of 20 straight singles victories on Davis Cup duty, while his British opponent had won just three of his last 10 matches in all competitions.
The world No 1 made short work of it too, dashing the hopes of 2,500 British fans, who will have to choose sides between Serbia and Italy in Saturday’s semi-final instead.
Norrie might not have played Djokovic if Great Britain had been at full strength, but shoulder and calf injuries for Andy Murray and Dan Evans respectively ruled them out, effectively forcing captain Leon Smith to pick his out-of-form No 1.
The Johannesburg-born left-hander was hoping to rekindle some of the bad blood between the pair that emanated from their encounter in Rome earlier this year when Djokovic felt Norrie had hit a ball straight at him.
But in truth Norrie never got close enough to spoil the imperious Serb, who broke in the fifth game of the match and only lost three points on serve in the opening sets, before breaking at the first opportunity in the second to keep Norrie at arm’s length.
That did not stop Djokovic holding his hand to his ear in the direction of the more raucous members of the British crowd, who were doing their best to spark their quarter-finalists to life, but it was largely in vain.
Draper’s efforts had been a similarly uphill struggle as Kecmanovic snapped a four-match losing streak to triumph in two tie-breaks.
The British No 4 will turn 22 next month and has had the best year of his professional career on paper, reaching a first ATP final in Sofia and a first clay quarter-final in Lyon, which included a win over Kecmanovic himself.
But the 21-year-old seemed to admit that nerves – as well as 48 unforced errors – played their part in his defeat.
“I felt like at times I was a bit flat and I had to pick myself up for the match. That’s what nerves do. They make you a bit flat, make you a bit slow at times,” Draper said.
“I was trying to get myself up for it and trying to get the guys to get behind me a bit more. There was definitely a few ups-and-downs in the way I was feeling physically, because that’s what nerves do. They just take over sometimes.”