Djokovic out of Serbian team against Czechs

World number one Novak Djokovic will not feature in 2010 champions Serbia's Davis Cup tie with the Czech Republic in Prague on April 6-8, the official Davis Cup website said today.

World number one Novak Djokovic will not feature in 2010 champions Serbia's Davis Cup tie with the Czech Republic in Prague on April 6-8, the official Davis Cup website said on Tuesday.

Serbian captain Bogdan Obradovic picked world number nine Janko Tipsarevic for the Davis Cup quarter-finals, along with Viktor Troicki (27), Dusan Lajovic (192), and Nenad Zimonjic, who is sixth in the ATP doubles rankings.

The Czechs will rely on world number seven Tomas Berdych and number 25 Radek Stepanek, on Lukas Rosol (83) and Frantisek Cermak (no. 18 in doubles), said the website.

Czech captain Jaroslav Navratil said on the team's Facebook site that Djokovic's absence did not mean anything for the time being as "the Serbs are cunning" and the captains can change their teams until the draw on the eve of the opening rubber.

"The tactical game goes on. We had signals that he will be in the team, and he's not. The key thing is who will arrive in Prague, who will be nominated on Thursday, and who will appear on the court on Friday," said Navratil.

The two countries last clashed in 2010 when Serbia beat the Czech Republic in the semi-finals on the way to its first Davis Cup trophy.