The 20-year-old Jurabek Karimov, a former junior Australian Open runner-up and world no. 426 has lost all the ATP points after the latest changes in the ranking structure at the end of 2018, having to start the new season with the ITF points alone.
The Tashkent native will have a chance to play in front of the home fans next weekend as Uzbekistan hosts Serbia in Davis Cup Qualifiers, seeking the place at Davis Cup finals in November. Saxovat Sport Servis Sport Complex will host the action on an indoor hard court, with Denis Istomin leading Uzbekistan together with Karimov, Khumoyun Sultanov, Sergey Fomin and Sanjar Fayziev.
On the other hand, Serbia cant count on Novak Djokovic, which was expected, but they will still bring a very solid team of three top-100 players, Dusan Lajovic, Laslo Djere and Filip Krajinovic. A former junior no. 1 Nikola Milojevic and Viktor Troicki complete the team and it should be exciting to watch them against Istomin and the rest of Uzbekistan squad in the battle for the place in Madrid at the end of November.
For Jurabek, this is one very familiar tie, having been working in the Serbian capital of Belgrade at Janko Tipsarevic Academy for the past three years, getting a chance to train and practice with all the Serbian players.
The young Uzbek had an opportunity to play three Davis Cup ties so far and he was outstanding in the last match he played, coming from two sets to love against Cameron Norrie to deliver the only point for his country against Great Britain back in September.
Now, he will have to pass more stern tests if the captain Farrukh Dustov decided to go with him in singles alongside Istomin, especially with a poor run he has been in for the last six months. I have many friends in Belgrade, Ive learned Serbian and I even listen to their music, .
I love their people and I always go with pleasure to my other house. I know all the players from Serbia. I trained with many of them, as well as Janko Tipsarevic at the Academy, and Ive learned a lot from them.
We play in front of a local audience and we have a good team. Denis is our strongest weapon, but we know it will not be easy against Serbia. We will fight. Every one of us wants to win, so we will compete as hard as we can. It will come down to who is better at a given moment.
We expect a quality match.
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