Spain and Argentina capitalized on their home claycourt advantage to move closer to a Davis Cup final showdown after taking control of their semi-finals on Friday.
Spain, two-time winners, opened up a 2-0 lead over defending champions USA with world No. 1 Rafael Nadal outclassing debutant Sam Querrey 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 inside Madrid’s intimidating, 22,000-capacity Las Ventas bullring.
David Ferrer then ground out a 7-6 (7/5), 2-6, 1-6, 6-4, 8-6 win over Andy Roddick.
In Buenos Aires, David Nalbandian eased past Igor Andreev 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-4 to give Argentina the lead over two-time champions Russia before 19-year-old Juan Martin del Potro extended his summer streak to 24 wins in 25 matches by easing past world No. 6 Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, 6-4, 6-2.
Should Argentina complete victory over Russia, they will have home advantage in December’s final when they will be bidding for a first Davis Cup title after twice finishing runners-up.
In the playoffs, where the winners will be guaranteed places in the 2009 World Group, Andy Murray pulled Great Britain level 1-1 with Austria. The Scot made quick work of Alexander Peya, racing to a 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 victory on Wimbledon’s Court One to cancel out Jurgen Melzer’s 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-2, 6-1 victory over Alex Bogdanovic. In Lausanne, Switzerland were 2-0 to the good against Belgium.
Stanislas Wawrinka needed four hours to see off Steve Darcis 6-7 (3/7), 6-1, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 before world No. 2 Roger Federer eased past Kristof Vliegen 7-6 (7/1), 6-4, 6-2.
Australia, who have won the Davis Cup 28 times, slipped 2-0 down to Chile on the clay courts of Antofagasta where former Olympic champion Nicolas Massu beat plucky Chris Guccione 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 7-6 (7/2).
The Aussies, without injured talisman Lleyton Hewitt, then saw world No. 177 Peter Luczak crumble to Fernando Gonzalez, the world No. 11, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
In Bratislava, world No. 3 Novak Djokovic gave Serbia the lead over Slovakia, the 2005 runners-up, with a 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 over Dominik Hrbaty before Janko Tipsarevic made it 2-0 with a four-hour victory over Lukas Lacko 6-7 (3/7), 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 8-6.
Mario Ancic gave 2005 champions Croatia a perfect start against Brazil in Zadar.
The injury-plagued Ancic saw off Thomaz Bellucci 6-2, 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/3) before Ivo Karlovic beat Thiago Alves 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/3), 7-5. In Bucharest, India went 2-0 down to Romania.
The Netherlands and South Korea were level at 1-1 in Apeldoorn after Jess Huta Galung beat Im Kyu-Tae 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 following Lee Hyung-Taik’s 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 win against Thiemo De Bakker.
Israel and Peru were also level at 1-1 at Ramat Hasharon with Luis Horna giving the South Americans the lead with a 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 win over Harel Levy before Dudi Sela saw off Ivan Miranda 6-2, 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.
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