Djokovic leads Serbs into Davis Cup match

SPLIT, Croatia, July 8 (UPI) -- World No. 2 Novak Djokovic of Serbia will go against Croatia's Ivan Ljubicic in the opening match of the Davis Cup quarterfinal in Croatia.

The best-of-five series on an indoor hard-surface court in Split, marks the first time the countries have met in Davis Cup play since becoming independent nations. Croat and Serb players used to compete together under the Yugoslav flag.

This year's tournament marks the first quarterfinal appearance for Serbia. Croatia won the Davis Cup in 2005.

Djokovic will meet Ljubicic, No. 16 in the world, in Friday's opening singles match with Serbian Viktor Troicki, ranked 44th, playing world No. 13 Marin Cilic in the second match.

The schedule calls for a doubles match Saturday in which the Serbian team of Janko Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic go against Croats Antonio Veic and Ivan Dodig. Sunday would see reverse singles with Djokovic playing Cilic and Troicki faces Ljubicic, which is potentially the deciding match.

The Serbia-Croatia winner advances to the Davis Cup semifinals in September against the winner of a quarterfinal between Chile and the Czech Republic. The Davis Cup finals are set for Dec. 3-5.