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.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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