Djokovic illness hands Russia cup win
An ailing Novak Djokovic retired despite leading in the first reverse singles match Sunday, giving Russia an insurmountable 3-1 lead over Serbia and a spot in the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
Australian Open champion Djokovic, who was playing his first singles match since winning in Melbourne, was leading Nikolay Davydenko 6-4 6-3 4-6 when he quit.
Djokovic withdrew from the opening singles Friday because of flu symptoms but paired with Nenad Zimonjic on Saturday to give Serbia a point by beating Mikhail Youzhny and Dmitry Tursunov in straight sets.
"I decided to stop as I didn`t want to risk my health," said Djokovic.
"I wanted to fight. I tried to play but in the end I was aware of the fact that I was very dizzy and had no energy.
"I just didn`t want to continue because of the risk."
Davydenko`s win sent Russia into the quarterfinals in April where they will face the Czech Republic, who completed a 3-2 win over Belgium in Ostrava.
Defending champions the United States plan a noisy reception in the heart of the nation`s south for their quarterfinal against France, after besating Austria 4-1.
Last spring, the Americans rode the support of fans in tennis-starved North Carolina to a sweep of Spain.
Captain Patrick McEnroe and his men are hoping for more of the same against the next set of European visitors.
"France has a great team and great young players, obviously Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with a great Australian Open," said McEnroe.
"Not only do they have a great team, but great individual players and a lot of flair in their team. Playing in Winston Salem in 2007 was an incredible environment. We`re hoping for the same kind of scene there this year."
With Sunday`s dead reverse singles reduced to the best of three sets, the Austrians earned an early consolation point when Mike Bryan retired with cramping when he was down 7-5 1-0 to Stefan Koubek.
Mike`s twin Bob then defeated Werner Eschauer 6-0 3-6 7-6.
France completed a 5-0 whitewash of Romania in Sibiu with Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement winning the reverse singles, against Andrei Pavel and Horia Tecau respectively, to add to their marathon doubles triumph on Saturday.
"We will not be the favorites, and therefore we will have the advantage of playing without pressure," said Tsonga, the Australian Open runner-up.
"It`s motivating, especially when I know that the Americans will fear us. They know we have two top twenty players and a top doubles team and that we can play very high quality tennis.
In Ramat Hasharon, Sweden, the seven-time winners, came from 2-1 down overnight to beat Israel 3-2 with Thomas Johansson seeing off Dudi Sela 7-, 6-1 7-5 and veteran Jonas Bjorkman defeating Harel Levy 0-6 6-4 6-3 7-6.
"We were very lucky today to win both matches, but we have great guys with great experience," said Swedish captain Mats Wilander.
"Picking great guys with 10-12 years experience really paid off."
The Swedes will have to travel to Buenos Aires for a quarterfinal against Argentina who comfortably disposed of Britain 4-1.
Jamie Baker prevented an embarrassing whitewash for Britain when he saw off Agustin Calleri 7-6 6-4 in the final dead rubber.
In the other last eight clash Germany who won three Davis Cups between 1988 and 1993, welcome Spain.
Philipp Kohlschreiber defeated South Korea`s Lee Hyung-Taik 6-0, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/1) to make sure of victory.
Spain, despite missing world number two Rafael Nadal, opened up an unassailable 3-0 lead over Peru on Saturday in Lima when Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco beat Luis Horna and Ivan Miranda 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).
|
