THE SCOOP: FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

Davis Cup: US up 2-0 behind Roddick, Fish; Spain in trouble
Kuznetsova-Sharapova to tango in China

By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net

© Mark Lyons

Andy Roddick bested his world-record with a 155-mph serve in his David cup victory.

Andy Roddick began the US-Belarus Davis Cup semi by firing a record 155-ace and crushing Vladimir Voltchkov 6-1, 6-4, 6-4. But far bigger than the tone-setting triumph by Roddick was his good buddy Mardy Fish's ability to read the erratic Max Mirnyi's serve and pull out a 7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 win to put the US up 2-0 in Charleston.

"It's great for the fans to see a record serve like that but to me it was another point, and that's the important thing," said Roddick. "I wanted to take the pressure off Mardy by winning my match and I think I did that."

The US will likely sew up the tie on Saturday, when the Bryan Brothers take the court against Mirnyi and either 18-year-old Alexander Skrypko or Voltchkov. As has been almost always the case in Davis Cup, Roddick played phenomenally well, never allowing the rusty Voltchkov to counterpunch his way into the match or to draw out the rallies.

"When you play against the top players, the first thing you want to try to do is get into a fight where it doesn't matter anymore who's No. 1 or who's No. 150," Voltchkov said. "Unfortunately, I had a slow start and, all credit to Andy, the way he started – huge serves – it was just tough to catch up."

Fish showed much greater consistency than he did at the US Open, taking Mirnyi's second serve early and keeping the man known as "The Beast" from dominating at the net.

The US hasn't reached a Davis Cup final since 1997, when it lost to Sweden, and hasn't won a crown since stunning since stunning Russia in 1995.

Mathieu stuns Moya in five sets
Young Davis Cup miracle worker Paul-Henri Mathieu shocked Carlos Moya 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 to give France a 1-0 edge over Spain in Alicante. Poor light forced the suspension of the Juan Carlos Ferrero-Fabrice Santoro's match with Ferrero up two sets to one and the score level at 3-3 in the fourth. Ferrero and Santoro will take the court again on Saturday morning, with the doubles match between Santoro/Michael Llodra v. Tommy Robredo/Rafael Nadal, to follow.

In his last appearance for France, Mathieu let go of a two-set lead over Russia's Mikael Youzhny in the fifth and deciding match of '02 final. But against Moya, Mathieu let loose on his huge groundies in the fifth set, coming back from 0-2 down in the fifth set, and breaking Moya three times to close out the stunner.

"I was thinking about that match against Youzhny today but this time I took my chance and that's why I won," Mathieu said. "It's true that the media talked a lot about the defeat two yeas ago and they were very critical. I hope this win will now be a bigger story."

The loss snapped Moya's eight-match Davis Cup winning streak, dating back to February 2001.

"I knew it would be tough," Moya said. "[Mathieu] does everything well, but still I think today I was controlling the match and then in the fourth and fifth sets I had many chances. I think I lost it. I'm sorry for the spectators who were excellent in supporting me, but I gave everything and I can't really explain why I didn't win."

WTA Tour

Svetlana Kuznetsova

Kuznetsova-Sharapova to tango in China
US Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova is flat out exhausted. She hasn't had a break since a few days before the US Open and on Saturday will complete a month of matches when she faces Wimbledon champ Maria Sharapova in the semis of Beijing. This somewhat small tournament has a standout field and will feature a rematch of the standout Serena-Williams-Vera Zvonareva contest in LA just two months ago in the other semi. Serena won a tight three-setter in LA.

Williams moved into her first semifinal since LA when Nadia Petrova retired midway through the second set with a left ankle sprain. Serena was leading 6-2, 4-1.

"I played solid, but I can play better," Williams said. "I think she could have played a little better and was a little injured although overall it was a very high quality match. I'm expecting myself to play a lot better and get to the final here."

Zvonareva pasted Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues, 6-2, 6-3. The serial weeper has a 0-2 mark against Williams. "I'm looking forward to playing Serena," Zvonareva said. "We had a very close match the last time we played." Vera lost her focus late in the third set of that match.

Kuznetsova extended her winning streak to 13 matches by edging Gisela Dulko 6-4, 6-4. Sharapova cruised when Jelena Jankovic retired at 5-2 in the first set by re-aggrevating her right ankle sprain.

This will be just the second career meeting between the Kuznetsova and Sharapova. The last time they played, Sveta ended Sharapova's run at '03 Wimbledon in three sets. "She's been in really good form the last couple of months," said Sharapova who hasn't won a title since Wimbledon. "I'm going to go out on the court and try to win, but we are good friends and compatriots, which always makes it a harder match." (It's hard to imagine Sharapova ever say the word "compatriots" but we'll take the quote as face value.)

With roughly seven weeks to go, the race for the remaining six spots in the eight-player, season-ending WTA Championships is one of the closest in years. Behind the top three of Lindsay Davenport, Amelie Mauresmo and Anastasia Myskina, the next nine players in the standings are separated by less than 1,000 points, including positions three through six, which are separated by less than 300 points.

Kuznetsova is fourth on the list, followed by former No. 1 Justine Henin-Hardenne, US Open finalist Elena Dementieva and US favorites Jennifer Capriati and Serena. Sharapova is just 25 points behind Serena for the eighth and final spot and is closely followed by Venus Williams and Zvonareva.