The US stayed alive in their Davis Cup semi-final against champions Spain on Saturday while four-time runners-up Argentina lost their doubles clash as well as Juan Martin Del Potro against the Czech Republic.
Bob and Mike Bryan beat Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez 6-3, 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 on the clay courts of Gijon as the US cut the deficit to 2-1 against Spain.
The Olympic and US Open champions secured the crucial point which means the tie was to be decided yesterday with a place in November’s final at stake.
Photo: AFP
Saturday’s win took the Bryans’ Davis Cup record to 20-2.
Five-time champions Spain are defending a run of 23 consecutive home victories in the tournament, a streak stretching back to 1999.
They had edged closer to a sixth final in 10 years on Friday when world No. 5 David Ferrer beat Sam Querrey 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 before Nicolas Almagro won a four-hour slog against John Isner, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5.
Yesterday, Ferrer was to face Isner in the first reverse singles with Almagro scheduled to meet Querrey.
“Ferrer is such a warrior and John’s going to have to play better than he did yesterday to stand a chance. He’s a little bit more physically taxed than David is for sure,” Courier added.
Argentina’s hopes of making the final suffered a double blow when they slipped 2-1 down to the Czechs and then lost Del Potro through injury.
Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek eased past Carlos Berlocq and Eduardo Schwank 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 at a shell-shocked Parque Roca to take their Davis Cup record to 11-1.
World No. 8 Del Potro withdrew from yesterday’s reverse singles with a wrist injury.
He will be replaced by world No. 45 Berlocq in the clash against US Open semi-finalist Berdych, the sixth-ranked player, before Juan Monaco is scheduled to tackle Stepanek.
“Del Potro won’t play so now we have to prepare with Berlocq. This is not what we expected, but we have two matches left. Del Potro is a significant loss but we will fight,” Argentina captain Martin Jaite said.
Del Potro had defeated Stepanek 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in the first singles rubber on Friday before Berdych leveled the semi-final, beating Monaco 6-1, 4-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.
In the play-offs, where victory assures a place in the World Group for 2013, the Netherlands stayed in contention against Switzerland in Amsterdam when Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer stunned Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.
Federer and Wawrinka, who were doubles gold medalists at the 2008 Olympic Games, had both won their singles on Friday to give the Swiss a 2-0 lead.
The tie was to be decided yesterday when world No. 1 Federer tackles Haase, the world 41, in the opening reverse singles, before Wawrinka takes on Thiemo de Bakker.
Belgium were promoted to the World Group after Olivier Rochus and Ruben Bemelmans beat Sweden’s Michael Ryderstedt and Johan Brunstrom 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 for an unassailable 3-0 lead in Brussels.
The result means Sweden will not feature in the World Group for the first time since 2000.
In Hamburg, Lleyton Hewitt and Chris Guccione enjoyed a 6-3, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Benjamin Becker and Philipp Petzschner to give Australia a 2-1 lead over Germany.
Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram claimed a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 win over Tatsuma Ito and Yuichi Sugita to give Israel a 2-1 lead over Japan in Tokyo. Elsewhere, Italy lead Chile 2-1 in Naples and Kazakhstan are 2-1 up on Uzbekistan in Almaty.
Canada lead South Africa 2-1 in Montreal while Brazil wrapped up a 3-0 win over two-time champions Russia in Sao Jose do Rio Preto.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
RSS