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Members of French and Serbian tennis teams listen to the national anthems before their Davis...
Billed as a potentially hostile Davis Cup final, the clash between Serbia and France turned out to be anything but on Friday after rival fans had created a spectacular atmosphere in the Belgrade Arena.Teenagers, wearing traditional countryside Serbian kits, entertained the fans with a folk dance before the French were given a red-carpet reception instead of the antagonistic response their captain Guy Forget had expected in the buildup.
A choir of school children received a standing ovation after singing both national anthems while the French players were greeted with a warm round of applause from the home fans.
Although they at times raised the decibel level in the opening singles rubber between Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic and his rival Gael Monfils, the home fans clapped after the Frenchman stormed to a straight-sets victory.
"The Serbian crowd was very fair and cheered their player like you would expect them to in a Davis Cup final, but the French press had tried to build a story that it would be a crazy atmosphere," Monfils said.
"They are a normal crowd and behaved the same way the French fans do and it was easy for me to show my emotions."
The Arena, where the Serbians have yet to lose a Davis Cup tie and in which their top player Novak Djokovic also has a perfect record, was a joyous sight with both sets of fans wearing team shirts and dancing to local pop music during breaks.
The home contingent included a section with six drummers which electrified the atmosphere and most Serbian supporters had inflatable batons to cheer on their team.
While there were some empty seats for the lunchtime opening rubber, a noisy full house of 15,000 watched their galvanised favourite Djokovic redress the balance by routing Gilles Simon.
"Belgrade has shown that it has cultured tennis fans worthy of attending an event of this magnitude and I hope they turn up in numbers again on Saturday and Sunday," Djokovic said.
"We need their support because Serbia's tennis tradition is only three years old and this might be a chance of a lifetimne for us to win the Davis Cup at home.
"You never know if we are all going to be fit and available in the future or who the draw will pit us against, hence I think we are not asking a lot by wishing for a capacity crowd right from the start on Saturday."
(Editing by John Mehaffey; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
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