Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet put France back in the Davis Cup final by winning the doubles and ending the two-year reign of the Czech Republic on Saturday.
Tsonga and Gasquet, who won their singles on Friday, gave Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek a rare doubles defeat in Davis Cup, 6-7 (7/4), 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 at Roland Garros.
France, with an unassailable 3-0 lead, made the final for the first time since 2010. They won the last of their nine cups in 2001.
Photo: Reuters
The Czech Republic needed to win the doubles to keep alive their chances of reaching a third straight final, but Stepanek played with an apparent right hip injury that required frequent treatment, and Berdych, who lost his singles to Gasquet, struggled with consistency.
“In the beginning of the second set I felt something in my lower back, I did not pay much attention to it, but with the time spent on the court it was getting worse and worse, and at the end of the second set I was very limited in my movements,” said Stepanek, who was unable to sit during the news conference. “In normal circumstances I would have retired, but I believed I had to somehow finish the match.”
Both captains amended their pairings before the match, but Berdych and Stepanek could not extend their winning partnership, as they were handed only their second loss in 17 doubles matches in the competition, the other being to Spain in the 2009 final.
Photo: AFP
France are to either play the final away to Italy or at home against Switzerland.
SWITZERLAND, ITALY
AP, GENEVA, Switzerland
Roger Federer had the day off on Saturday, but was called up yesterday in a bid to help Switzerland advance to their first Davis Cup final in 22 years.
Without Federer, who was rested, Switzerland lost in doubles to Italy and had their lead in the semi-final cut to 2-1.
The Swiss paired Stanislas Wawrinka with Marco Chiudinelli, who lost 7-5, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 against Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli at the Palexpo indoor arena.
“Roger suggested that he should not play just because he had a lot of matches this year,” Swiss captain Severin Luethi said.
Federer, who played in the US Open semi-finals, won his team’s first point on Friday by beating Bolelli in straight sets.
The Swiss No. 1 was to play Fognini in yesterday’s opening reverse singles.
“He’s going to be fresh, and it’s an advantage for us,” Luethi said.
France awaits in the final on Nov. 21-23.
“It is great for the Swiss fans and I am happy for them,” said Wawrinka, who is to play Bolelli in a decider if Federer loses. “The positive thing is we are up 2-1. We are not worried.”
Federer’s absence did not surprise the Italians.
“For us, it was still very tough today,” Bolelli said. “It’s still complicated, but anything can happen.”
TAIWAN, SOUTH KOREA
AFP, TAIPEI
Exhaustion took its toll on Taiwan veteran Chen Ti in the first-round Davis Cup playoff yesterday, giving South Korea a 3-1 victory and sustaining their Asia/Oceania Group I status.
Chen, ranked 244th, and his partner Peng Hsien-yin beat South Korea’s Chung Hyeon and Lim Yong-kyu on Saturday.
That gave Taiwan a fighting chance in yesterday’s reverse singles, despite a 0-2 loss in the opening singles.
Taiwan bet on Chen, replacing Hung Jui-chen who was representing the nation in the Davis Cup for the first time, but was routed by Lim in the singles 6-2, 6-2, 6-0.
A fatigued Chen had to abandon the match against Chung Hyeon while trailing 0-3 in the fifth set after a tie at 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 3-6.
Taiwan are to meet New Zealand in a playoff next month to decide who will be relegated to Group II.
US, SLOVAKIA
Reuters
Bob and Mike Bryan made quick work of their doubles match to ensure the US cruised to victory in their Davis Cup World Group playoff against Slovakia on Saturday.
The brothers’ 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 victory over Norbert Gombos and Lukas Lacko in Chicago gave the US an insurmountable 3-0 lead to secure a place in next year’s World Group.
The Bryans needed only 76 minutes to claim the win, taking control early and facing just two break points in total.
“It was one of our better Davis Cup performances because I felt we were hitting in all facets of the game,” Mike Bryan told reporters. “[We] didn’t really have any difficulty out there. Just thought we started hot and just kept it up, kept our energy high.”
In Halifax, Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah kept Colombia alive in their playoff tie against hosts Canada.
Sebastian and Farah posted a 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (9/7), 6-4 win over Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil to narrow Canada’s lead to 2-1.
Colombia needed two singles victories on Sunday to turn the tie around.
ISRAEL, ARGENTINA
AP, SUNRISE, Florida
Led by the doubles team of Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram, Israel took a 2-1 lead over Argentina on Saturday afternoon in a best-of-five World Group playoff.
Erlich and Ram defeated Argentina’s Federico Delbonis and Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 at the Sunrise Tennis Center.
Ram pulled a muscle in his left leg with Israel leading 4-2 in the fifth set, and was forced to serve slowly in the final game of the match.
Argentina hammered his weak serves, but Erlich managed several successful volleys to help his team get the win.
“There were missiles coming at me,” Erlich joked. “I tried not to get killed.”
The event was originally a home match for Israel in Tel Aviv, but the International Tennis Federation moved it to Florida because of safety concerns.
Israel broke Zeballos’ serve to go up 3-1 in the fifth set. Zeballos also hit the game’s final shot into the net, touching off a wild celebration for the Israeli players and fans.
The winning team is to become one of 16 teams to play for next year’s Davis Cup. The loser is to play next year in World Group II.
AUSTRALIA, UZBEKISTAN
AFP, PERTH, Australia
Nick Kyrgios and Sam Groth wrapped up a 5-0 clean sweep for Australia in their World Group playoff against Uzbekistan in Perth yesterday.
Big-serving Groth, replacing Lleyton Hewitt, launched his Davis Cup career with a 6-3, 6-2 win over world No. 527 Temur Ismailov in 63 minutes.
Teenager Kyrgios made even lighter work of world No. 736 Sanjar Fayziev, posting a 6-1, 6-1 demolition in just 39 minutes.
The win means 28-time Davis Cup champions Australia have retained their spot in the 16-nation World Group next year.
Uzbekistan, who are yet to reach the World Group, will have to battle it out in the Asia/Oceania Zone for another year.
INDIA, SERBIA
AP, BANGALORE, India
India’s Rohan Bopanna and Leander Paes came back from two sets down to beat Ilija Bozoljac and Nenand Zimonjic in the doubles match and narrowed Serbia’s lead to 2-1 in their playoff on Saturday.
Bopanna and Paes lost the first two sets before raising their game to clinch the next three, winning the match 1-6, 6-7 (7/4), 6-3, 6-3, 8-6.
Leading 7-6 in the decider, the Indian pair broke Zimonjic’s serve to complete a memorable victory in 2 hours, 50 minutes.
India had to win both reverse singles yesterday to return to World Group action after a three-year absence.
BRAZIL, SPAIN
AP, SAO PAULO
Bruno Soares and Marcelo Melo defeated Marc Lopez and David Marrero 6-3, 7-5, 7-5 to give Brazil a 2-1 lead over Spain in their playoff on Saturday, leaving the five-time champions in danger of dropping to zonal play for the first time since 1996.
Brazil had key breaks late in all three sets to clinch the victory in 2 hours, 35 minutes at the Ibirapuera indoor arena. The hosts broke for 5-3 in the first set and held on after going up 6-5 in the last two.
“We were practically perfect when we needed,” Soares said. “We know we can win this series, we believe in our team, and we will fight until the end. We need only one more point tomorrow.”
“We would rather be up 2-1, but I still have all the confidence in our team,” Spain captain Carlos Moya said. “Both of our players are capable of winning their matches in the final day.”
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