LONDON, 24 September 2005 — Karol Beck beat Guillermo Coria to give Slovakia a surprise early lead against Argentina, and Croatia and Russia finished 1-1 on the first day yesterday of the Davis Cup semifinals.
Meanwhile, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick — the top three players in the world — won in the World Group playoffs for Switzerland, 2004 champion Spain, and the United States respectively.
Beck upset No. 8-ranked Coria 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 on a hard court in Bratislava. Beck broke Coria once in each set. In the second singles, Dominik Hrbaty was playing David Nalbandian.
Argentina, playing its third semifinal in four years, is favored against a Slovakia team which has reached the semifinals for the first time.
In Split, Croatia, Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko beat Mario Ancic 7-5, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Ivan Ljubicic, who has played his best tennis in Davis Cup, rallied to level the tie with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win over Mikhail Youzhny. Davydenko, who has never lost to a Croatian on the ATP tour, played above his own expectations against Ancic.
Russia is the only team in the semifinals which has won the Davis Cup, and captain Shamil Tarpischev was seeking to become the first person to achieve the double in the same year, after leading the Russian women to the Fed Cup title last weekend.
In the playoffs, the winner remains in the elite 16-nation World Group, while the loser drops down to zonal play next year.
Federer did not play when Switzerland lost its first-round match to the Netherlands. He returned for the tie against Britain in Geneva and overwhelmed 262nd-ranked Alan Mackin 6-0, 6-0, 6-2 on the indoor red clay.
Stansilas Wawrinka beat Scottish 18-year-old Andrew Murray 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the second singles.
The United States was in danger of being relegated from the World Group for the first time in 17 years.
The US team went 1-0 down against Belgium when Olivier Rochus beat James Blake 6-4, 7-5, 6-1 on the red clay at the Sportplaza in Leuven. Roddick made it 1-1 by beating Rochus’ brother, Christophe, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.
Spain won the Davis Cup last year but crashed to a 4-1 opening round defeat to Slovakia in March. Nadal only played the doubles that time but, after winning the French Open, the 19-year-old has risen to second in the world.
Nadal beat Italy’s Daniele Bracciali 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 after teammate Juan Carlos Ferrero was upset by Andreas Seppi 5-7, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 6-2 in Torre del Greco, Italy.
In other World Group playoffs it was: Austria 1, Ecuador 1; Chile 1, Pakistan 0; Czech Republic 1, Germany 0 and India 0, Sweden 1.
Sharapova Advances to
Semifinals of China Open
In Beijing, top-ranked Maria Sharapova defeated Japan’s Shinobu Asagoe 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the semifinals of the China Open yesterday, as Venus Williams withdrew because of a leg injury.
Sharapova lost her service game at the start of her match but immediately broke back and was in command for the rest of the contest.
After Asagoe double-faulted to lose the first set, Sharapova promptly won the next five games, amassing an unassailable lead.
“In the second set I started playing aggressively and didn’t give her a chance to get back in the match,” Sharapova said.
Williams withdrew ahead of her quarterfinal match against Poland’s Marta Domachowska, citing an injury to her left knee sustained in her previous match.
“It is a new injury. I decided to withdraw this morning,” she said, adding that she still expects to attend the WTA tournament in Guangzhou, China, next week.
Domachowska advanced to the semifinals and will face Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld, who eased past Peng Shuai of China, 7-5, 6-1.
Sharapova’s semifinal opponent is fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko, who ended Chinese player Sun Tiantian’s surprising run by beating her 6-1, 6-3.
Sun enjoyed strong crowd support even in defeat, still basking from her shock upset of Serena Williams on Wednesday in the second round.
Serena Williams cited an existing knee injury as a factor in her defeat, in a tournament beset by injuries. Venus Williams said she was bothered by an injury she suffered Thursday during her win over Spain’s Nuria Llagostera Vives.
Myskina, Likhovtseva Advance
In Calcutta, India, top-seeded Anastasia Myskina and second-seeded Elena Likhovtseva, both from Russia, entered the semifinals the WTA Tour’s US$170,000 (euro140,000) Sunfeast Open yesterday.
Myskina defeated India’s Shikha Uberoi 6-4, 6-2, while Likhovtseva prevailed 6-1, 7-5 over Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson.
Myskina’s opponent in Saturday’s semifinal will be unseeded Kaia Kanepi of Estonia, who overcame the higher-ranked Sybille Bammer of Austria 7-5, 6-3.
Likhovtseva will take on Croatia’s seventh-seeded Karolina Sprem, who raced to a 6-3, 6-1 victory in the quarterfinal against Hungary’s Melinda Czink.
