Google News
Austrian tennis player Jurij Rodionov has revealed that he still hasn't gotten over failing to help his country beat Chile in a Davis Cup qualifying round in February. Rodionov, who has plummeted to No. 280 in the world, has been struggling with his form and confidence for the past couple months.
The 20-year-old was extremely motivated to help Austria qualify for the Davis Cup Finals event but that wasn't enough as he didn't impress in his Davis Cup debut. In the absence of world No. 4 Dominic Thiem, the Austrians needed someone to step up against Chile -- but that didn't happen as Chile claimed a 3-2 win.
Former world No. 187 Rodionov suffered a straight-set loss to Nicolas Jarry in his Davis Cup debut before he got beaten by Cristian Garin in two sets a day later. "It's also because of the Davis Cup, I had a lot of pressure and couldn't live up to the expectations.
Mentally, I didn't manage that nearly nine million people counted on me. Afterward I had a mental slump and I'm still not over it," Rodionov said, as revealed by Twitter user De Nela. Rodionov's latest loss came in Kitzbuhel, where he suffered a straight-set loss against fellow compatriot Dennis Novak on the opening day of the event.