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Davis Cup: Power nations pull throughUS to meet Spain; Russia v. ArgentinaBy Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net
In North Carolina, Richard Gasquet all but abandoned his team and as a direct result, The Cleaner, Andy Roddick, destroyed France's Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 to clinch the tie 3-1 for the US. Remarkably, Gasquet, who was asked by captain Guy Forget to go up against Roddick in the opener on Sunday, decided to play the fifth and dead rubber where he went down to James Blake 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4. The US will face familiar foe Spain away, the only nation that swept its foe when it shut out Germany 3-0 in Bremen behind Rafa Nadal, David Ferrer and the doubles team of Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco. Russia took a 3-1 win over the Czech Republic after Tomas Berdych was forced to retire leading 2-1 in the fifth set against Nikolay Davydenko, who went on to a 6-3, 2-6, 6-7, 6-3, 1-2 victory. Berdych wasted his ankle on a forehand and writhed on the ground in agony, unable to continue. Davydenko and Igor Andreev had teamed up the day before for a key doubles win. "I really felt I had a chance today, especially here in Russia," Berdych said. "I couldn't even walk. If I move my leg, it's not good at all." Playing at home, Argentina edged Sweden, 3-1, behind David Nalbandian, who survived a strident effort from Robin Soderling 6-4, 1-6, 4-6, 6-4, 9-7 in four hours and nine minutes. Argentina avenged last year's 4-1 defeat in Sweden. Like Roddick, Nalbandian has been a consummate Davis Cup hero at home, having never lost a Davis Cup rubber in Argentina. He also beat Thomas Johansson in Friday's opening rubber and partnered Guillermo Cañas in a huge doubles on Saturday. Argentina will host Russia, most assuredly on dirt. While the US is enamored with its more diverse and tactically intelligent approach to matches (see my column on msn.foxsports.com/tennis), Spain is itching at the chance to get Americans back on dirt. Last year, the US scalded a Nadal-less Spanish team on the same fast indoor court in North Carolina. Coach Emilio Sanchez was thrilled that his team finally won a significant away match. Before last weekend, Spain had not won a World Group quarterfinal, semi or final outside its borders since 1987. "We've got out of this habit of always losing away from home," Sanchez said. "We've now won twice away from home this year (including a 5-0 win over Peru in the first round) and we have the confidence to show what we can do anywhere. Our players are of outstanding quality and they have a lot of desire to play the Davis Cup. … We'd like to take on USA again, partly because we'll be at home for that one. We gave it everything we had against them last year and it didn't quite come off. We'll be eager to have another go at them." SHARAPOVA WINS FIRST
CLAY CROWN It was a physically trying week for Sharapova, who needed three hours and 27 minutes to best Anabel Medina Garrigues and then had to go to the wall again against Alona Bondarenko in a three-set marathon. She caught a break in the semis, when Lindsay Davenport pulled out with an injury, but she knew she could cruise against the hard-hitting and strong-legged Cibulkova, who looks like a real comer. The Slovak had upset Anna Chakvetadze and Amelie Mauresmo en route to the final. She played sloppy at times against Sharapova, but the Russian is clearly a more seasoned competitor who pushed herself to go for the corners on short balls. "You obviously never know how you're going to feel and how things are going to turn out, so I feel pretty fortunate to win my first title on clay," said Sharapova, whose best previous result was reaching last year's French Open semis, where Ana Ivanovic smoked her. Sharapova is scheduled to play the Family Circle Cup this week. She has never been very successful playing back-to-back one-week tournaments after a title run. © TennisReporters.net 2008
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