Tsonga to Miss Davis Cup Tie Against Argentina

Adding to the disappointment of missing the US Open with a knee injury, Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga announced earlier this week that he will also have to sit out of next month’s Davis Cup tie against Argentina.

Tsonga, who injured his knee against Andy Murray during the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, reached the fourth-round of the US Open last year.

Serbia Chooses Belgrade to Host Czechs in Davis Cup Semifinal

The Serbian Davis Cup team has chosen the Belgrade Arena for September’s Davis Cup semifinal against the Czech Republic.

Using the arena to defeat Uzbekistan and the United States in recent ties, the Serbian team will hope to draw on the 18,200 fans that will fill the stadium.

The tie, which will likely feature Novak Djokovic and company against Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek, will be held Sept. 17-19.

France to Host Argentina on Indoor Hard-Court

The Davis Cup semifinal clash between France and Argentina will take place in Lyon, France according to the French Tennis Federation.

The tie, which will be played Sept. 17-19, will be held at the Palais des Sports de Gerland on an indoor hard court.

France reached the semifinals by dismissing defending champs Spain 4-1 in the quarterfinals, while Argentina defeated Russia 3-2.

France holds a 4-0 career head-to-head lead over Argentina, with the teams not playing since 1982.

Thomas Johansson Could Play Davis Cup

Former Australian Open winner Thomas Johansson has been asked by the Swedish Davis Cup team to consider a return to action for his countries’ September playoff tie.

Admitting that he may not be in match shape at the moment, Johansson’s name was considered because of the lack of depth in Swedish tennis.

After Robin Soderling, who is ranked No. 5 in the world, the Scandinavian country does not have another player ranked inside the top 300.

ITF confirms 2011 Dates for Davis Cup and Fed Cup

The ITF today confirmed the dates for the 2011 Davis Cup by BNP Paribas and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas.

As part of long-term agreements with the ATP and Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, both of the ITF’s international team competitions currently have fixed dates in the tennis calendar.

The full dates are as follows:

Davis Cup by BNP Paribas – 2011

> World Group first round: 4-6 March
> World Group quarterfinals: 8-10 July
> World Group semifinals and play-offs: 16-18 September
> World Group Final: 2-4 December

Fed Cup by BNP Paribas – 2011

> World Group and World Group II first round: 5-6 February
> World Group semifinals and play-offs: 16-17 April
> World Group Final: 5-6 November

Davis Cup Day 3 Review: Argentina and Serbia Advance to Semifinals

Davis Cup hero David Nalbandian propelled his Argentine team into the semifinals of the 2010 World Group by dismantling Mikhail Youzhny 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-3.

After defeating Nikolay Davydenko on Friday, Nalbandian watched as the top 10 Russian defeated Eduardo Schwank 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 in the ties’ fourth rubber.

Forcing a fifth and final rubber, Nalbandian came out with purpose to dismiss his higher ranked opponent. Ranked No. 153 in the world, Nalbandian used his terrific return game, and precise serving to advance easily in two hours and 26 minutes.

Winning over 70 percent of both his first and second serve points, Nalbandian broke the serve of Youzhny on three of seven occasions, while never losing his serve.

Encountering a string of injuries in recent years, Nalbandian has made it clear that winning the Davis Cup remains his final career goal.

Advancing to a semifinal against France, Nalbandian and his Argentine squad will play in France, September 17-21.

Nalbandian improved to 32-9 in Davis Cup competition.

Elsewhere, world No. 2 Novak Djokovic poured in a resounding performance to elevate his Serbian team into their first ever Davis Cup semifinal.

Destroying Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-3, 6-2, Djokovic lost his serve on three occasions, but put even more pressure on Cilic’s service games by breaking the tall Croat on eight of 16 occasions.

Defeating Ivan Ljubicic on Friday, Djokovic will lead his team against the Czech Republic at home in September.

“Personally, I had a lot of responsibility with the package that I carried on my back before this tie, but right now I feel so relieved that we won,” said Djokovic.

“We won in one of the toughest atmospheres against a team that has a lot of success in this competition.”

Janko Tipsarevic later completed a 4-1 victory for Serbia by defeating Antonio Veic 6-2, 7-6 (5).

In other Davis Cup ties, France completed a 5-0 sweep of defending Davis Cup champion Spain, while the Czech Republic currently leads Chile 3-1 after clinching their semifinal position on Saturday.

Quotes courtesy of DavisCup.com.

Davis Cup Day 2 Review: France Dismisses Defending Champ Spain

The powerful French Davis Cup team led by Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau gave their squad an insurmountable 3-0 advantage over Spain on Saturday.

Advancing to the semifinals after a dismissing Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-2, 6-7(6), 7-6(5), the French duo needed three hours and five minutes to record their first victory over Spain since 1923.

Serving immaculately throughout their four set victory, Llodra and Benneteau never lost their serve, while breaking their opponents on two of three occasions.

Llodra, who defeated Verdasco in four sets on Friday, used his booming left-handed serve to dominate proceedings.

Winning the Davis Cup on nine previous occasions, France will next face the winner of Russia or Argentina.

The Argentine squad captured a crucial doubles point over Russia to lead the tie 2-1 after Horacio Zeballos and Eduardo Schwank defeated Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Kunitysn 7-6(7), 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-1.

Davydenko, who was late replacement for Teimuraz Gabashvili, also lost his singles contest against David Nalbandian on Friday.

Breaking serve six times, Zeballos and Schwank struck 11 aces and won 76 percent of their first serve points.

Zeballos, who has become an integral part of Argentine tennis, was pleased with his partner’s performance.

“We are really happy as this was a very important point for Argentina. I am really good friends with Schwank and we were confident as we are both good doubles players and had played together in the Pan American games where we won,” said Zeballos.

Sunday’s reverse singles will feature:

Davydenko vs. Leonardo Mayer, and Mikhail Youzhny vs. Nalbandian.

Elsewhere, Serbia took a 2-1 lead over Croatia when Janko Tipseravic and Nenad Zimonjic defeated Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

Serbia will advance to their first ever Davis Cup semifinal if Novak Djokovic dismisses Cilic during Sunday’s reverse singles. If Cilic prevails over the world No. 2, then Ivan Ljubicic and Viktor Troicki will battle for the fifth and final rubber.

The final tie between the Czech Republic and Chile is currently in control by the Czechs. Leading 2-0 in the weekend’s tie, the Czech Republic will advance to a meeting with either Serbia or Croatia if they’re victorious.

The team of Lukas Dlouhy and Jak Hajek currently leads Jorge Aguilar and Nicolas Massu by two sets.

For final results from today’s action, click the live scores section.

Davis Cup Day 1 Review: Nalbandian and Monfils Dig Out Quality Wins

Quarterfinal action for the 2010 Davis Cup World Group began today in full force with all four ties taking place.

Argentine David Nalbandian improved to 7-5 lifetime against Nikolay Davydenko by dismissing the Russian 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6). Losing his serve on two straight occasions towards the tail-end of the third set, Nalbandian regained his momentum by using his backhand down-the-line to gain a mini-break in the deciding tiebreak.

The two hour and 47 minute match, which was played with more unforced errors to winners, became a crucial win for Argentina considering that Leonardo Mayer would fall to Russian Mikhail Youzhny in the day’s second rubber.

Needing just over two hours to advance, Youzhny struck two aces while winning 71 percent of his first serve points.

Saturday’s doubles contest between Teimuraz Gabashvili and Igor Kunitsyn vs. David Nalbandian Horacio Zeballos will become pivotal in deciding a 2-1 leader heading into Sunday’s reverse singles.

Nalbandian admitted that his level of play against Davydenko was far from his best.

“We didn’t play our best tennis, as it’s difficult coming back from injuries and it’s not easy to come back and play Davis Cup,” said Nalbandian.

“I always believe in my game and at the beginning I saw he wasn’t too solid from the baseline and also with his serve too, so I managed to get things on my side.”

Elsewhere, Gael Monfils dug deep to provide France a 1-0 lead over Spain by defeating David Ferrer in five sets 7-6(3), 6-2, 4-6, 5-7, 6-4, while Novak Djokovic pushed forward to a commanding win over Ivan Ljubicic, 7-6(3), 6-4, 6-1 to give Serbia a 1-0 advantage over Croatia.

After trailing by two sets, it appeared that Ferrer was on the mend by capturing the third and fourth sets. Fighting back from a 4-2 deficit in the fifth set, Ferrer would lose his serve and the match at 4-5 when Monfils struck a down-the-line forehand winner.

Celebrating with an on-court hug with team captain Guy Forget, Monfils improved to 2-1 in Davis Cup singles competition.

Fernando Verdasco and Micheal Llodra are currently locked at one set apiece in the day’s second rubber.

World No. 2 Djokovic displayed scintillating form in recording his sixth career victory over Ljubicic on the strength of his strong return game. Providing no aces towards his victory, Djokovic broke serve on five of 13 occasions, while winning 76 percent of his first serve points.

Needing two hours and 28 minutes to prevail, Djokovic’s win will likely take his squad into a 1-1 tie after Friday’s play.

Wiry Croat Marin Cilic currently leads Serb Viktor Troicki by two sets.

The weekend’s final tie featured Ivo Minor giving his Czech Republic squad a 1-0 lead over Chile by dismissing Nicolas Massu 6-0, 6-2, 6-3. The ties’ second match will feature Jan Hajek vs. Paul Capdeville.

For continued updates on today’s matches, check out the live scores section on the top menu, or atlernatively click the link below to watch Davis Cup action live.

Davis Cup live streaming.

Quotes courtesy of daviscup.com.

Davis Cup World Group Matches Decided

The players and match ups for this weekend’s Davis Cup ties were revealed by the ITF on Thursday.

With notable star Rafael Nadal not taking part in this weekend’s competition, the four ties will still feature some great national action.

The following is the match ups for this weekend’s Davis Cup ties:

Spain vs. France—Zenith – Grande Halle d’Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand, France

R1 – G.MONFILS (FRA) v. D.FERRER (ESP)
R2 – M.LLODRA (FRA) v. F.VERDASCO (ESP)
R3 – J.BENNETEAU / M.LLODRA (FRA) v. F.LOPEZ / F.VERDASCO (ESP)
R4 – G.MONFILS (FRA) v. F.VERDASCO (ESP)
R5 – M.LLODRA (FRA) v. D.FERRER (ESP)

Russia vs. Argentina—Olympic Stadium, Moscow
R1 – N.DAVYDENKO (RUS) v. D.NALBANDIAN (ARG)
R2 – M.YOUZHNY (RUS) v. L.MAYER (ARG)
R3 – T.GABASHVILI / I.KUNITSYN (RUS) v. D.NALBANDIAN / H.ZEBALLOS (ARG)
R4 – N.DAVYDENKO (RUS) v. L.MAYER (ARG)
R5 – M.YOUZHNY (RUS) v. D.NALBANDIAN (ARG)

Croatia vs. Serbia—Spaladium Arena, Split, Croatia
R1 – I.LJUBICIC (CRO) v. N.DJOKOVIC (SRB)
R2 – M.CILIC (CRO) v. V.TROICKI (SRB)
R3 – I.DODIG / A.VEIC (CRO) v. J.TIPSAREVIC / N.ZIMONJIC (SRB)
R4 – M.CILIC (CRO) v. N.DJOKOVIC (SRB)
R5 – I.LJUBICIC (CRO) v. V.TROICKI (SRB)

Chile vs. Czech Republic—Enjoy Tennis Center, Coquimbo
R1 – N.MASSU (CHI) v. I.MINAR (CZE)
R2 – P.CAPDEVILLE (CHI) v. J.HAJEK (CZE)
R3 – J.AGUILAR / P.CAPDEVILLE (CHI) v. F.CERMAK / L.DLOUHY (CZE)
R4 – N.MASSU (CHI) v. J.HAJEK (CZE)
R5 – P.CAPDEVILLE (CHI) v. I.MINAR (CZE)

Djokovic Embraces Serbian Influence

World No. 2 Novak Djokovic has always been known for his dynamic and flexible on-court game, which has been coupled with his refreshing off-court demeanor.

Capturing the Australian Open in 2008, Djokovic has since led an increased interest in the sport in his native Serbia, while inspiring the current crop or touring professionals.

Gathering in Croatia this week for his Nation’s first quarterfinal Davis Cup tie, Djokovic reflected on his impact back home.

“I am used to playing in front of a lot of spectators and in a fiery atmosphere. The Davis Cup is a very unpredictable competition, especially if you’re the visiting team.”

Djokovic’s Davis Cup teammate Janko Tipsarevic, who married his girlfriend Biljana Sesevic over the weekend, shared his thoughts on the impact of his countries’ top player.

“Because Novak is near the top, he has helped the rest of us,” said Tipsarevic. “Sponsors and money are being invested in the sport in Serbia, if we didn’t have top players our profile would be lower. I wouldn’t have a good profile.

Taking on Croatia this weekend in Split, the dynamics of the tie will be slightly different considering that the two Nations used to compete together under the flag of Yugoslavia.

“Croatia has been more successful than us in the Davis Cup,” said Djokovic. “But we have a team that can get through to the finals.”

Reaching his second career Wimbledon semifinal on Friday, Djokovic will lead his team against Marin Cilic and Ivan Ljubicic.

Quotes courtesy of atpworldtour.com.

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