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.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
RSS