Tipsarevic's 6-0, 7-6 (6), 6-4 win came after Novak
Djokovic had brought Serbia back into the match by beating Tomas Berdych 4-6,
6-3, 6-2, 6-4 to tie the best-of-five series at 2-2.
In the Dec. 3-5 final, Serbia will host France, which
beat Argentina 5-0 in the other semifinal.
Tipsarevic proved to be Serbia's key player, winning both
of his singles.
Djokovic, the US Open runner-up, had a lethargic start
but rode the support of his hometown crowd of 15,000 in the Belgrade Arena that
even used vuvuzelas to fire up their team.
He dropped his serve in the seventh game to lose the
first set.
Djokovic, No. 2 in the world, skipped the opening singles
Friday because he was still tired from Monday's final against Rafael Nadal and
only returned to the Serbian capital from New York two days before the match.
He returned to play doubles on Saturday in a losing
effort that left Serbia trailing 2-1 and Djokovic had to beat Berdych to keep
Serbia's hopes alive.
Djokovic came into the match with a 2-1 career edge over
Berdych but the seventh-ranked Czech had won their Wimbledon semifinal. Berdych
then lost the final to Nadal.
There were two scary moments for the Serbian team in the
second set. Djokovic was 30-0 down before recovering for a 3-2 lead.
In the next game, Djokovic tried to reach a smash from
Berdych but slipped and fell heavily. He needed a medical break but returned
with a bandage on his right knee.
Djokovic appeared to have no problems, however, and had
one break point as he continued the game.
Berdych held but hit a backhand into the net to go down
5-3 and Djokovic served out the set to level at 1-1.
"I felt sleepy in the first set but it didn't last
long," Djokovic said.
"I woke up when I fell but fortunately I was not
hurt.
And I felt a volcano of energy coming from the
fans," he said.
Djokovic broke serve twice to go up 4-1 in the third and
although he had a brief lapse when he lost the next game with two straight
errors, the Serb did not let up the pressure.
Berdych played a drop shot that looked like a winner
until Djokovic reached it and put away a soft backhand winner across the net.
Djokovic stood on the sideline with his hand cupped to his ear. The crowd loved
it and Berdych appeared shaken mentally as he dropped his serve again before
Djokovic served out the set.
Berdych missed with a smash to face two break points in
the ninth game of the fourth. He saved one but not the other when his slice
shot hit the net.
Djokovic used his first match point with a backhand to
send the fans into a frenzy.
"He is a big fighter and he doesn't need much to get
back into a match," said Berdych, the Czechs' top player who lost both
singles.
"I led 30-0 in the fifth game of the second but he
recovered and from then on my game went downhill," Berdych said.