Argentina will host the Davis Cup final against Spain in November after Juan Martin del Potro dismantled Igor Andreev in straight sets to beat Russia on Sunday.
Del Potro defeated Andreev 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 in the decisive fifth and final match of the semi-final.
In the first reverse singles, top Russian Nikolay Davydenko evened the tie at 2-2 when he beat Argentina’s No. 1 David Nalbandian 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2), 6-0.
PHOTO: AFP
It will be Argentina’s third appearance in the Davis Cup final, and its first as host. In 2006, Argentina lost to Russia and in 1981 the team fell to the US.
Spain beat defending champion the US 4-1 in their semi-final in Madrid.
Argentina captain Alberto Mancini said the win was a “dream ending,” adding that he and the players agreed that facing Spain on an indoor hard-court would give them the greatest advantage over the clay-savvy Spaniards.
“That’s where we’ll have a chance,” Mancini said.
Del Potro told the roaring crowd at Parque Roca Stadium, where Argentina haven’t lost for 10 years, that “we’ll need you more than ever against the Spaniards.”
Del Potro, who made his Cup debut last year and was playing his first home tie, set the tone in his match when he broke Andreev in the first game. He held serve to take the first set.
Then from 1-2 in the second he won nine games in a row to lead by two sets and 4-0. Andreev finally held, but del Potro broke a sixth time to win the match in 2 hours, 13 minutes.
Andreev said he expected a tough match against del Potro after seeing him beat Davydenko on Friday. Del Potro had also won four titles this summer, reached the US Open quarter-finals, and won 24 of his last 25 matches.
“He’s on a hot streak at the moment,” Andreev said, adding the Argentines had a “chance” to beat the Spaniards as long as they don’t play on clay.
Russia captain Shamil Tarpischev said in jest the only tactic to defeat the dominant del Potro would have been to get him away from the boisterous and intimidating support of the Argentine fans.
“We should have played in Moscow,” Tarpischev quipped.
Del Potro wasn’t expected to be the team’s hero. Nalbandian was favored to seal the result in Sunday’s first singles, but he suffered his first singles loss at home and on clay since his 2002 Davis Cup debut.
Nalbandian had also played the doubles on Saturday, when he lost his first Davis Cup match at home, and he admitted he ran out of steam against Davydenko in their fourth set. Mancini said he knew Nalbandian’s fatigue would be an issue in the “tough” match, but decided to risk it, betting on a win by del Potro.
Davydenko forced Nalbandian to hustle for every point in front of the capacity 14,000-strong crowd, whose raucous behavior often held up play, much to the Russian’s anger.
Davydenko approached the umpire to ask him to tell Nalbandian to stop revving up the crowd. The Argentine fans booed and whistled loudly anytime a small section of Russian fans cheered for their team, and had to be repeatedly asked to be silent before countless serves by Davydenko.
After early mistakes from both players at the start, Nalbandian began to move Davydenko all over the court with well-placed strokes and drop shots. He broke the Russian in the fourth game en route to taking the first set.
In the second, Davydenko dropped serve in the first game but immediately broke back from love-40. The Russian played better as the rallies became longer, breaking Nalbandian twice more with the help of three double faults.
The pair improved in the third set before Nalbandian lost concentration and was broken in the fifth game. He broke back for 5-5, but easily lost the tiebreaker.
By the fourth set, Davydenko’s well-placed shots were out of reach of a tired Nalbandian.
Davis Cup World Group Playoff results:
• Chile 3, Australia 2
• Great Britain 2, Austria 3
• Switzerland 4, Belgium 1
• Croatia 4, Brazil 1
• Israel 4, Peru 1
• Netherlands 3, South Korea 2
• Romania 4, India 1
• Slovakia 1, Serbia 4
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