Davis Cup in Nis: Kecmanovic Calls Fans to Cair
Miomir Kecmanovic has called on fans to fill the Cair Arena for Serbia's Davis Cup tie against Lithuania, with the draw and final match schedule set for Friday at noon at the Nis City Hall.
When Serbia beat Turkey in Cair last year, the stands of the Nis arena were packed to the last seat, and the players stayed on court long after the match to greet the crowd. Miomir Kecmanovic clearly hasn’t forgotten that scene, because ahead of the new home tie, this time against Lithuania, he picked up his phone himself and recorded a message for the people of Nis.
I’d just like to invite you, as the captain of this team, to come out in large numbers to the Cair Arena, to give us your support so that we can be in the Davis Cup World Group again next year.
Kecmanovic said in a video released today by Nis TV, and that message is the best introduction to what awaits Nis this week.
Serbia hosts Lithuania on September 19 and 20 in the Davis Cup World Group 1, and the stakes are clear: the winner advances to the qualifiers for the 2027 Davis Cup Finals, while the loser drops into the World Group 1 playoffs. Before a single ball is struck, the draw is scheduled for Friday, September 18, at noon, at the Nis City Hall. That’s when the exact order of play, who faces whom and in what sequence, will be set.
The weekend itself is already planned down to the last detail:
- On Saturday, September 19, two singles matches are played starting at 2 p.m.
- On Sunday, September 20, play opens at 1 p.m. with doubles, followed by two more singles matches.
- If the score stands at 3-1 or 4-0 for either team after the fourth match, the fifth match is not played.
Captain Viktor Troicki called up Kecmanovic, Hamad Medjedovic, Ognjen Milic, Branko Djuric and Stefan Latinovic for this tie. Novak Djokovic is not on the roster, so the burden of carrying the team once again falls on the younger players, a role Kecmanovic has already grown used to. He has represented Serbia since 2021, has faced 13 different opponents, and holds a record of seven wins and five losses in singles, three wins and three losses in doubles.
Troicki, for his part, makes no secret that heading to Nis specifically was no accident.
We have great memories from Nis. We’ve always won here, that’s why we chose to play in Nis. We gathered on Monday, the whole team is together, the guys already trained on Tuesday. We still have a couple of days to prepare before Saturday, the atmosphere in the team is good.
Serbia’s captain told Arena Sport, quickly adding that the opponent shouldn’t be underestimated, even though his team is the favorite on paper.
The opponent deserves respect. They have two good young players who are climbing the ATP rankings. We don’t underestimate them, but we’re hoping for a win, I believe in my team. We’re the favorites and I believe that with the crowd behind us in Nis we can get the win.
This isn’t the first report on the tie; it was already known that Serbia would head into the Nis clash without Djokovic. Now the picture is more concrete: the time of the draw is set, the day-by-day schedule is set, and all that’s left is for the arena to fill up the way Kecmanovic asked.
What strikes me as significant is that Serbia is playing this match as the favorite, yet without its biggest star, which means the younger players will have to carry the weight on their own in front of the home crowd. Friday’s noon draw is just the prelude; the real work starts Saturday at 2 p.m.
