Novak Djokovic gets home-crowd feel in Sydney at ATP Cup

Almost an hour after he walked off Ken Rosewell Arena to raucous chants of his name, vak Djokovic was distracted by replays of his comeback win over Canian opponent Denis Shapovalov that secured Serbia's place in ATP Cup semifinals. It was like he was reliving big moments again, as he regularly glanced over to a TV monitor showing highlights in between answering questions at a news conference.

Djokovic, who has won a record seven Australian Open men's singles titles, was playing in Sydney for first time in a dece after going 3-0 in singles in ATP Cup in Brisbane. re was question who crowd was supporting Friday. constant chants and even a burst of trumpet from flag-waving Serbian fans certainly helped him in his comeback 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4) win.

16-time major champion reveled in environment, with his teammates and coaches on side of court, and echo of “le, le, le” going around stium.

“I'm mean, Brisbane we h amazing support — but this has taken it to a different level,” Djokovic said. “All Serbian people came out today.”

Shapovalov was on receiving end of some of it, getting a warning from umpire when he reacted to some taunts from crowd.

“y were engd — sometimes a little bit too much. Denis was rightfully anyed at times, you kw, with sounds, but it was a Davis Cup-like atmosphere, really," Djokovic explained. “I mean, ATP Cup brings this kind of opportunity for players to experience something y don't experience in 90% of tournaments.”

On eir side of Djokovic's win, Dusan Lajovic beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2 in opening singles match and Serbia won doubles to complete a 3-0 sweep of Cana.

Russia captain Marat Safin kept an eye on proceedings, and figured Djokovic's tough win may count against Serbia in semifinals. Karen Khachav will play Serbia's . 2 and Daniil Medvedev will take on Djokovic. Russians were involved in Day 1 of quarterfinals, with Medvedev clinching win in a heated match against Diego Schwartzman and blaming his cranky mood on jetlag following trip from Perth to Sydney via Melbourne.

“I think is very important for Karen to win that first match so he gives some confidence to Daniil," Safin said. “Daniil, I think he will have a chance tomorrow, especially (because) vak h long match today. y are playing tomorrow morning, so hopefully vak will t recover well.

“n doubles will be important ones, but I think we can — we try to do it in first two matches. I honestly believe ... that we will win in two (singles) matches, so we don't want to go into doubles."

If Serbia's run so far is any guide, re's almost a home-ground vant for Djokovic's team.

Djokovic knew he h crowd onside against Cana, so he felt like he needed to be a responsible host for his guests.

re was a delay late in third set against Shapovalov when a spectator needed medical attention from paramedics and Djokovic, despite being down 0-30 while serving for match, took a bottle of water toward stium seating and asked crowd to pass it along.

He got back level at 30-30 in that game before Shapovalov broke to level set at 5-5. Canian saved a break point in next game but after match went to a tiebreaker, Djokovic seized control by winning first five points.

“That was so close, it could have gone in a different way easily. (Shapovalov) was playing terrific tennis,” Djokovic said. “It felt, t a little bit, fully like I'm playing at home.

“When you have most of stium backing you up after every point, of course it makes a significant difference in terms of how you feel on court. You find that strength. You find that motivation,” Djokovic ded. "That's why I try to cherish se kind of moments and take m with me anywhere I go."