Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic outlasted the top-ranked doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan to give Serbia a slight edge over the United States in their Davis Cup quarterfinal.
The Bryan brothers fought back down two sets against the Serbian duo, though the fifth set proved to be too much. In a match that lasted 4 hours and 23 minutes, the Serbians edged the Americans 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-1), 5-7, 4-6, 15-13 on Saturday to take a 2-1 lead in their best-of-five tie.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic will open Sunday's reverse singles against American Sam Querrey. The Australian Open champion Djokovic can send Serbia to the semifinals with a victory.
In the other reverse singles match, Viktor Troicki will take on American John Isner.
Serbia topped the 32-time titlist U.S. 3-2 in Belgrade in an opening-round tie three years ago in their lone previous Davis Cup meeting.
Team USA is captained by Jim Courier, while Bogdan Obradovic is guiding the visiting Serbs.
The winner of this quarterfinal tie will meet the Canada-Italy victor in the semifinals in September.
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