The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Without Djokovic, Serbia trails Argentina 2-0
- Tennis-Nalbandian and Del Potro put Argentina 2-0 up
- Athletics-Blake runs second fastest 200m of all time
| Without Djokovic, Serbia trails Argentina 2-0 Posted: 16 Sep 2011 06:38 PM PDT BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) - Taking advantage of the absence of the top-ranked Novak Djokovic, Argentina took a commanding 2-0 lead over defending champion Serbia in the Davis Cup semifinals Friday. Djokovic pulled out of the opening singles against David Nalbandian because of back pain, four days after beating Rafael Nadal in the U.S Open final, and was replaced by Troicki who lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. In the other singles match Friday, Juan Martin del Potro beat Janko Tipsarevic 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. Argentina needs one more point to reach its first final since 2008. Serbia has never made a comeback after trailing 0-2 after the opening singles. The doubles are played Saturday. Del Potro won a battle of long rallies against U.S. Open quarterfinalist Tipsarevic, finishing off the 2 hour, 31 minute match with an ace. "We are in a good position now to win here, but nothing is over," Del Potro said. Serbia team captain Bogdan Obradovic left open the possibility that Djokovic could play in the doubles to try to keep Serbia alive in the best-of-five series. "Novak is going to practice a little, get used to the surface and we will see," Obradovic said. "This is a very tough situation for us." Tipsarevic, who retired with an injury in the U.S. Open quarterfinals against Djokovic after a tough battle, said Del Potro's serve made the difference. "I feel I didn't play that bad, but Juan Martin played real good," Tipsarevic, who is 0-3 against the Argentine, said. "The key was his serve, which was excellent." Nalbandian had little trouble against Djokovic's replacement, who had 58 unforced errors on the indoor hard court in Belgrade Arena. The Argentine dominated the match with precise baseline shots as the 18th-ranked Serb had trouble returning a mix of forehand and backhand winners. Nalbandian wrapped up the match with a neat backhand down the line. "Djokovic's absence helped us for sure," Nalbandian said. "I found out some 25-30 minutes before the match that he will not play, but I was prepared to play either him or Troicki, it did not matter." Djokovic also pulled out of Serbia's opening match of the semifinals last year against the Czech Republic because he needed rest after the U.S. Open, where he lost to Nadal in the final. Troicki was also a late replacement for Serbia on the opening day while Djokovic played the reverse singles. "We knew for days that Djokovic would not be able to play, so this was no surprise," Troicki said. "Nalbandian played good and I played bad, that was the key." Djokovic led Serbia to its first Davis Cup title last year after beating France 3-2 in the final with Troicki clinching the key point. Serbia has entered the semifinals with a seven-match Davis Cup winning streak. The last team to beat Serbia in a home tie was Belgium in 2005, which was also the last time Djokovic lost a singles match at home. Argentina is looking to win its first Davis Cup semifinal away from home. Since the formation of the World Group in 1981, Argentina has made nine semifinal appearances, losing all six while playing away. |
| Tennis-Nalbandian and Del Potro put Argentina 2-0 up Posted: 16 Sep 2011 06:15 PM PDT BELGRADE, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Argentina took a big step towards reaching the Davis Cup final when David Nalbandian and Juan Martin Del Potro secured a 2-0 lead over holders Serbia on Friday. The home team's hopes of advancing to their second successive final suffered a huge blow before a ball was hit as world number one Novak Djokovic pulled out of the opening singles rubber with pain in his lower back and ribs. Djokovic, who won the U.S. Open in New York on Monday, arrived in Serbia less than 24 hours before his scheduled tie with Nalbandian and could not recuperate in time. Replacement Viktor Troicki was no match for the Argentine who played the kind of tennis that made him the world number three in 2006, blowing away his opponent 6-4 4-6 6-2 6-3. "I was prepared to play either Djokovic or Troicki," Nalbandian told a news conference. "We knew Djokovic might not play because these things can happen in the Davis Cup. "Either way I think I played really well. The crowd created a great atmosphere out there and I really enjoyed it." Del Potro then produced a clinical performance against Janko Tipsarevic to win 7-5 6-3 6-4 and put the 2008 finalists in the driving seat. In the other semi-final in Cordoba, Spain also held a 2-0 lead over France. Now ranked 74th in the world, Nalbandian revived memories of his heyday as he silenced the normally raucous Belgrade crowd. He hit a staggering 50 winners and scored 25 points more than Tipsarevic who made 58 unforced errors and converted only three of 12 break points. LITTLE CHEER The 15,000 home fans had little to cheer and the small but vociferous band of Argentine supporters made most of the noise as Del Potro carried on where Nalbandian left off. Tipsarevic saved three set points on his serve in the 10th game of the opening set but could not repeat the feat in the 12th as Del Potro capitalised on his fifth set point. With some dejected Serbian fans leaving the upper tiers of the impressive Belgrade Arena, 2009 U.S. Open champion Del Potro put his foot on the gas pedal and raced through the second set after breaking serve in the fourth game. He hit a superb backhand cross-court winner and then held serve for the rest of the set, much to the delight of his team mates and captain Tito Vasquez who jumped off their seats with joy almost every time he earned a point. Del Potro conjured a break of serve in the seventh game of the third set and then held his serve with ease to wrap up the match in two hours 32 minutes, ending it with an ace on his second serve. Nenad Zimonjic and Tipsarevic meet Juan Monaco and Juan Ignacio Chela in Saturday's doubles, with the reverse singles scheduled for Sunday. |
| Athletics-Blake runs second fastest 200m of all time Posted: 16 Sep 2011 06:08 PM PDT BRUSSELS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Jamaican Yohan Blake blazed to the second fastest 200 metres of all time at the Brussels Diamond League meeting on Friday, upstaging compatriot and training partner Usain Bolt who clocked the quickest 100m of the season. Blake, who won the world 100 title in Daegu last month after Bolt was disqualified from the final, stunned the capacity crowd by clocking 19.26, just seven-hundreds of a second behind Bolt's world record set in Berlin in 2009. Blake, the man seen as the main challenger to Bolt's surpremacy, said he was surprised by the time. "I knew I could do something crazy... but to be honest I was surprised when I saw the clock at the finishing line," he told reporters. Bolt, the Olympic 100 and 200 metre champion, failed to deliver in the 100 in Daegu after leaving the blocks too early, and was far from the first to rise on Friday, needing to drive hard to push past fellow Jamaican Nesta Carter. His time of 9.76 was two hundredths of a second quicker than the previous season best of Asafa Powell set in June. So who is the world's fastest man now? "Well, he is the world number one," Blake said referring to Bolt. "In the 200 metres, well, I would say, yeah, I'm number one." Bolt, who retained his 200 world title in South Korea, was his usual confident self and said he was not worried by Blake's time. "Listen, you need to understand, I've done great things. Yohan is coming, he is going to be a great athlete, but I'm not afraid of one athlete," he said. "I'm still number one. He has to beat me a couple of times before I have to start getting worried. He still has a long way to go," he continued before adding that 2012 would be "an interesting season". Double Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopia, who limped out of the 10,000 metres at the world championships, ran the fastest time of the season in 26 minutes 43.16 seconds after a last lap sprint with Kenya's Lucas Kimeli Rotich, who smashed his personal best by almost 30 seconds. Bekele, out with a ruptured calf muscle since the start of 2010, said he had come close to quitting a year ago, but his friends had given him the strength to carry on. "Two years is a long time without racing, without training. I am getting back to a good level and after this I will improve, so it was perfect," he said. For many athletes the Brussels meeting brought the season to a close, but the fast track produced a string of season and personal best performances. In the women's 100 metres, the one-two-three was a repeat of the world championship final in Daegu last month. American Camelita Jeter proved she is this season's form sprinter with a time of 10.78, ahead of Jamaica's Veronica Campbell-Brown and Kelly-Ann Baptiste of Trinidad and Tobago. Jeter was one of 16 athletes to win a trophy and $40,000 for being the most consistent performers over the Diamond League series. In the 1,500 metres, American Morgan Uceny also took a trophy and cash prize after she clocked a world best for 2011 of 4:00.06. |
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