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the scoop: sunday, july 17
Argentina shocks Aussies; Russia comes
back on France
Croats, Slovaks advance
By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net
 Cynthia
Lum/WireImage.com
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| Davydenko scored two wins for Russia. |
When was the last time that three Eastern European
nations and one South American country reached the Davis Cup semis?
Probably never.
The tennis landscape definitely took on a different hue Sunday, when David
Nalbandian played one of the best contests of his life and tore apart
Lleyton Hewitt 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 to gave Argentina a 3-1 victory over
Australia on grass in Sydney.
In Moscow, Russia completed a remarkable comeback against France when Igor Andreev
mauled Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-0, 6-2, 6-1 in the fifth rubber.
Earlier, Nikolay Davydenko overwhelmed French teen Richard Gasquet 6-2,
4-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Two nations reached the semis for the first time. Dominik Hrbaty led the
Slovak Republic to a 3-1 win over the Netherlands in Bratislava. Hrbaty
was wasting Peter Wessels 6-3, 6-1, 3-0 when the Dutchman retired with
a rib injury.
In Split, Ivan Ljubicic lead Croatia to a 3-1 win over Romania with a
6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Andrei Pavel.
Even though Argentina sported the deepest and most talented team left
in the competition, many analysts felt that – even though Australia was
without Mark Philippoussis and Todd Woodbridge – the Aussies would
prevail behind Hewitt on grass.
But, it was former Wimbledon finalist Nalbandian who pulled off the triple
away from home, taking down Wayne Arthurs on day 1, teaming with Mariana
Puerta to beat Hewitt/Arthurs on day 2 and then out-stroking an unusually
tense Hewitt on day 3.
"This is incredible," said Nalbandian. "To win the three
points the way we do it, it's really amazing. The team is very strong.
When I went to the court I felt if I don't win this match, Guillermo (Coria)
is going to win it, either way. I tried to play my best. I saw Lleyton
was so nervous in the beginning that I changed a little bit my mind the
way to play him. I know that he was going to miss before me. I was surprised
a lot. I feel that this was the biggest match we played against each other.
I win very easy and it makes me very happy."
While Hewitt win over Nalbandian in the '02 Wimbledon final was
arguably bigger, leading one’s nation to victory away in a hostile
environment is certainly noteworthy.
"We are feeling great. It was a really tough tie for us," said
Argentine captain Alberto Mancini. "It was really a win for all the
team. The players gave up a lot to be here and to play at this level.
They had to think about Argentina and not for themselves and that paid
off."
Croats, Slovaks advance
Argentina will have to travel again in September when they face the Slovaks,
likely on an ultra quick indoor
surface.
"Of course Argentina will be favorites," added Hrbaty. "But
I think that we have more togetherness. That is the main thing about our
team. Also we will be playing at home so we can choose the surface. But
Argentina has many players from the Top 10, but I have played them before
and managed to win, so I think we can win if we play our usual Davis Cup
match."
Playing without top player Marat Safin and having to assign Mikael Youzhny
to doubles duty because of an injury, Russia pulled off a huge victory.
Davydenko showed the form that took him to the Roland Garros semis in
taking apart Gasquet. But, it was Andreev who put the cherry on the cake,
as the erratic Russian had dropped his first two matches before taking
down Mathieu. Russia will travel to Croatia in September in what should
be a highly competitive tie on any surface.
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