The Ymir brothers liked – but Sweden was left out

© Bernat Armangue / AP / TT
Elias Ymir.

Of course, Sweden fell in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup to the Russian Tennis Federation team.

But the brothers Ilyas and Mikael Ymir also stood out against the stars of the Russian world.

Notably Ilyas Ymir, who propelled world number five Andrei Rublev into the decider tiebreak.

Not many people believed that Sweden could beat the Russian Tennis Federation team in the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup in Madrid.

That’s when Mikael and Ilyas Ymir – Sweden’s best players, ranked 94th and 171st in the world respectively – were placed against world runner-up Daniil Medvedev and fifth-ranked Andrei Rublev in singles matches.

Of course, Russia is ready for the semi-finals after 2-0 in the singles matches.

But the Ymir brothers sometimes showed the tennis world what they could do.

tiebreak required

Not least Ilyas Ymir in his first singles match against world number five Andrei Rublev.

The 24-year-old Rublev – who reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open this year – certainly won the first set 6-2. But then Ilyas Ymir answered and won the second set 7-5. In the third set, the players kept serving, which meant Ymir led 6-5. Every now and then, the 25-year-old seemed to be on his way to a giant explosion.

But Rublev tied 6-6 – then won 7-3 in the tiebreak, the match 2-1. It is still a real receipt for Ilyas Ymir, who among other things was 12 serves in the match.

– Rublev said in the victory interview: – There is a lot of pressure when you know that you have to win and that the opponent has nothing to lose.

I got the audience with him

Even 23-year-old Svergitan Mikael Ymir admired his meeting with the recent US Open champion Daniil Medvedev. Sometimes Ymir was accompanied by the audience in Madrid, when he made Medvedev sometimes lose his temper in the second set.

Medvedev broke Ymir early and went 3-1 in the first set, but Ymir came back and turned 4-3 before Medvedev came back and re-set 6-4.

In the second set, Medvedev showed why he was second in the world by taking a 3-0 lead. However, Ymir responded again and won two consecutive matches. Medvedev then went in for two straight games, but Ymir really tried when he won back-to-back matches – but then Medvedev sent the set home with a 6-4 score and the match with a score of 2-0.

When the quarter-finals were decided, the double match between Andrei Goranson / Robert Lindstedt and Andrei Rublev / Aslan Karatsev was irrelevant and was not played.

This is the first time since 2011 that Sweden have reached the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup, which this year has been defined in a new format. Sweden reached the quarter-finals through a group match, initially defeating Canada (3-0 in matches) and then losing to Kazakhstan (1-2).

Croatia (2-1 against Italy), Germany (2-1 against Great Britain) and Serbia (2-1 against Kazakhstan) were already ready for the semi-finals. Croatia and Serbia meet on Friday, and on Saturday the Russian Tennis Federation team and Germany meet.