Novak Djokovic stars as Serbia, Italy advance at Davis Cup

Novak Djokovic took down Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4 to help his native Serbia sweep Great Britain 2-0 in their Davis Cup quarterfinal showdown Thursday in Malaga, Spain.

In the semifinals, Serbia will meet Italy, which eliminated the Netherlands with a 2-1 victory on Thursday.

Djokovic won a whopping 24 of his 27 first-service points (88.9 percent), held an 8-4 edge in aces and never faced break point against Norrie. The Brit saved 10 of his 12 break points but could not keep up with the No. 1 player in the world.

Miomir Kecmanovic then concluded Serbia's sweep by beating Jack Draper 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) to ensure doubles was not needed. Kecmanovic rallied out of an early 2-0 hole in the second-set tiebreaker by winning five straight points.

The Italians benefitted greatly from Jannik Sinner's assistance against the Netherlands.

Sinner won his singles match 7-6 (3), 6-1 over Tallon Griekspoor. Botic van de Zandschulp helped the Dutch respond when he outlasted Matteo Arnaldi 6-7 (6), 6-3, 7-6 (7).

In the decisive doubles match, Sinner and Lorenzo Sonego topped Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof 6-3, 6-4.

The other Davis Cup semifinal will feature Finland against Australia.

—Field Level Media