Defending champions the Czech Republic reached their second successive Davis Cup final on Saturday while Canada eyed a first ever appearance in November’s title match.
Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych led the Czechs to a third final in five years after breezing past Argentina’s Carlos Berlocq and Horacio Zeballos in Saturday’s doubles 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
“It’s pure fantasy, the guys played at a 100 percent again,” Czech captain Jaroslav Navratil said after his side took a 3-0 lead in Prague. “They didn’t give the Argentinians a chance.”
Photo: Reuters
On Friday, Stepanek, who won the US Open doubles title with India’s Leander Paes last weekend, had defeated Juan Monaco 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, 6-2.
Berdych then saw off Leonardo Mayer 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The Czechs, who won last year’s trophy by beating Spain, will travel to either Canada or Serbia for the final.
Canada silenced 8,000 spectators in Belgrade when Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Ilija Bozoljac 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5/7), 10-8 in a four-hour doubles marathon to go 2-1 ahead.
Serbia were in a similar position in their 2010 semi-final against the Czech Republic, but managed to win both singles on the final day.
“The guys did their best. We have to win the match in singles on the third day,” Serbian coach Bogdan Obradovic said.
In Friday’s singles, world No. 1 Djokovic disposed of Pospisil 6-2, 6-0, 6-4, while Milos Raonic, the world No. 11, battled past Janko Tipsarevic 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 10-8.
Djokovic was due to face Raonic yesterday before 23rd-ranked Tipsarevic took on Pospisil, the world No. 41.
In Madrid, US Open champion Rafael Nadal teamed up with Marc Lopez to give Spain an unassailable 3-0 lead over Ukraine in their World Group play-off.
The Spanish pair beat Denys Molchanov and Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 6-4 in just over three hours to ensure the five-time champions will remain among the world’s top 16 nations next year.
It was Nadal’s third best-of-five set match in just six days and his first doubles clash in Davis Cup in seven years.
In Umag, Great Britain led 2005 champions Croatia 2-1 after Andy Murray and Colin Fleming saw off Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (8/6), 6-1.
Switzerland retained their World Group status with their third win in a row against unheralded Ecuador as Stanislas Wawrinka paired up with Michael Lammer to see off Emilio Gomez and Roberto Quiroz 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (7/9), 6-4.
Their victory in Neuchatel made it 3-0 for the Swiss who were playing without Roger Federer.
Australia’s hopes of returning to the World Group suffered a jolt when Poland kept the two nations’ play-off alive in Warsaw.
Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski defeated Chris Guccione and debutant Nick Kyrgios 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7 (5/7), 6-4 in the doubles rubber after Australia had won both of Friday’s singles.
In other World Group ties Israel are 2-1 up against Belgium, Germany have a 2-1 edge on Brazil while the Netherlands defeated Austria 3-0.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB