Spain’s title defense began nervously after Switzerland pocketed the first singles while the Czech Republic, Serbia, France, Russia and Croatia swept their matches on the first day of Davis Cup World Group action on Friday.
The 2-0 leads for the Czechs over host Belgium, Serbia over the US, France against Germany, Russia over India, and Croatia against Ecuador followed the formbook, but Argentina surprisingly tied Sweden 1-1 in Stockholm and gave David Nalbandian another chance to be a hero.
Chile and Israel were set to start their tie in Coquimbo yesterday, a day late because of the killer earthquake and tsunami last weekend.
PHOTO: AFP
In a converted Logrono bullring, Switzerland’s No. 1 Stanislas Wawrinka, playing his first match since the Australian Open after the birth of his daughter, outlasted Nicolas Almagro of Spain 3-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, but David Ferrer accounted for Marco Chiudinelli 6-2, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 to soothe Spanish worries.
How far Switzerland push Spain will depend on Wawrinka, who after playing four hours on Friday will play doubles and reverse singles today, a day the tie wasn’t expected to be alive.
In Bree, Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek began their quest to return the Czech Republic to the final for a second straight year by not dropping a set against Belgium.
Berdych defeated Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 despite 36 unforced errors, then Stepanek downed Xavier Malisse 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3). Neither were named for the doubles, but with an opportunity to clinch the tie and advance to the quarter-finals, Berdych and Stepanek could be back on court.
In Toulon, former top-10 player Gael Monfils of France earned his first Davis Cup win by beating Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), while Jo-Wilfried Tsonga remained unbeaten since his debut in 2008 when he defeated Benjamin Becker 6-3, 6-2, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3 to put Germany in a 2-0 hole.
When Nikolay Davydenko’s replacement, Igor Andreev, hurt his knee in practice, Igor Kunitsyn received only an hour’s notice that he was playing and duly beat Somdev Devvarman 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3, 6-4 to set Russia rolling against India, making their first World Group appearance since 1998.
Mikhail Youzhny capped another good day for the home team in Moscow by dispatching Rohan Bopanna 6-4, 6-2, 6-3. Russia haven’t lost at home since 1996.
In Varazdin, Croatia managed to handle the Lapentti brothers of Ecuador.
Ivo Karlovic overcame Nicolas Lapentti 6-2, 5-7, 6-7 (2/7), 6-3, 6-4, then Marin Cilic downed Giovanni Lapentti 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
Nicolas Lapentti reversed his decision last year to retire and withstood 36 aces from Karlovic to almost pull off a stunner.
In Belgrade, Viktor Troicki beat John Isner in his Davis Cup debut 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (5/7), 7-5, 6-4, then Novak Djokovic saw off Sam Querrey 6-2, 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 6-3 to put Serbia in command against the US.
In Stockholm, Leonardo Mayer rallied to beat Joachim Johansson 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 in his first Davis Cup singles after Robin Soderling beat debutant Eduardo Schwank 6-1, 7-6 (7/0), 7-5 to leave Argentina tied with Sweden and a chance for Nalbandian to shine.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
A man fell from the 6.4m-high Clemente Wall in right field at PNC Park in Pittsburgh during Wednesday night’s game between the Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. Right after Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to put the Pirates ahead 4-3, players began waving frantically for medical personnel and pointing to the man, who had fallen onto the warning track. The fan was tended to for approximately five minutes by members of both the Pirates and Cubs training staffs as well as PNC personnel before being removed from the field on a cart. The team issued a statement shortly
PAINFUL VICTORY: Ruud said that felt pain in his rib during the warmup and was put on painkillers so that he could finish the match against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo With the help of painkillers, Casper Ruud overcame a rib ailment to defeat Francisco Cerundolo in straight sets and reach the Madrid Open final on Friday. Ruud is to face Jack Draper, who beat Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the other semi-final to make his third final of the year. Ruud received treatment on his rib three games into the match and went on to win 6-4, 7-5 on the Caja Magica center court. The 15th-ranked Norwegian saved 15 of the 18 break points he faced against the 21st-ranked Argentine. Ruud said he felt something in his rib during the warmup, just before
RSS