Argentina, Russia and the US reached the Davis Cup semifinals Sunday, joining Australia in the last four of this year's competition.
The Argentines held on to eliminate defending champion Croatia 3-2, with Juan Ignacio Chela rallying to beat Sasa Tuksar 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) in the final match. Russia beat host France 4-1 after Dmitry Tursunov downed Richard Gasquet 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-5 in the deciding match.
Andy Roddick gave the host Americans the final spot in the semifinals by beating Fernando Gonzalez of Chile 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 in the first reverse singles match. The Americans won 3-2 after Paul Capdeville downed James Blake 6-3, 6-4 in the dead rubber.
Earlier Sunday, Australia completed a 5-0 sweep of visiting Belarus.
In Zagreb, Croatia, Tuksar took a one-set lead but couldn't stop Chela. Neither player dominated the match, which lasted more than four hours, but Chela had nine aces to Tuksar's five.
Tuksar, who squandered a 3-1 lead and a set point in the third set, has only won one ATP match in his career -- and that was after his opponent retired with an injury.
In the first reverse singles match, Ivan Ljubicic gave the hosts a chance to overcome a 2-1 deficit for the first time since 1993 by beating David Nalbandian 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.
Ljubicic, Croatia's playing captain, had 33 aces and a series of winners all over the court. He has won 11 of his last 12 Davis Cup singles matches, and 10 straight at home.
Croatia played without Mario Ancic, who had to withdraw from both the singles and doubles due to a back injury.
The only time Croatia has recovered from a 2-1 deficit was against Zimbabwe in a zonal match 13 years ago.
In September's semifinals, the Argentines will host Australia, which won its 28th and last championship in 2003. Argentina will be playing in the semifinals for the fifth time.
In Pau, France, Tursunov saved a break point in the fourth set and then dominated his serve against Gasquet in the first reverse singles. The 34th-ranked Russian had 71 winners and 22 aces.
Mikhail Youzhny downed Michael Llodra 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (3) in the final match.
Russia beat France in the quarterfinals for the second straight year. The last time the French team beat Russia was in 1983.
The Russians will host the US in the other semifinal.
In Rancho Mirage, California, Roddick was broken twice on grass but managed to hold on to win for the US, which has won the Davis Cup 31 times but not since 1995.
In Melbourne, Wayne Arthurs and Chris Guccione completed the sweep for the hosts and put Australia in the semifinals for the fifth time in eight years.
In dead rubbers, Arthurs beat Serguei Tarasevitch 7-6 (6), 6-2 and Guccione beat Alexandr Zotov 6-1, 6-3 at Kooyong.
Top-seeded Nadia Petrova beat Italy's Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-4 for the first time in five meetings and won the Bausch & Lomb Championships final.
The 23-year-old Russian earned her third tournament title in the last six months and second this year. She also won at Linz in October and at Doha in February.
"Every year, I've been doing better and better, playing more consistent and winning more matches," Petrova said. "Hopefully, I'll get more and more titles this year."
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