TENNIS in DEPTH.

Four-time winners Spain will host three-time runners-up Argentina in the final of the Davis Cup in December after they beat France and Serbia respectively. While Spain cruised past France 4-1 in Cordoba, Argentina enjoyed a narrow 3-2 overall victory with their progress confirmed when world number one Novak Djokovic had to retire through injury during his match with Juan Martin del Potro. Del Potro was leading 7-6 (7/5) 3-0 when Djokovic, who won the US Open title last Monday, went down with a scream and had to be carried to the bench, giving Argentina an unassailable 3-1 lead with one rubber remaining. Serbia’s Janko Tipsarevic narrowed the final deficit when he won the first set against Juan Monaco who subsequently retired.

Spain, though, eased impressively through with Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco both enjoying straight-sets wins over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet. Djokovic admitted with hindsight his decision to play against Argentina was not the correct one given the back injury he was carrying from the US Open. He said: “I feel very disappointed to end the tie in this way, I tried although I was only 60 per cent fit and I got into the match knowing there was a risk of aggravating the injury which I first felt at the US Open. ”We knew my condition was not good but we believed that even so I would have a better chance against Del Potro than my team-mate Viktor Troicki would. At the end of the day it was my decision and it backfired. ”I am not saying I would have won if I had been 100 per cent fit because Del Potro played at a very high level today and never in my professional career did I struggle with my return of serve as I did today. ”The important thing now is to determine the extent of my injury and how long it will take me to recover, I was able to battle through the pain in the US Open final but not today.”

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“Playing in Madison Square Garden has always been a dream of mine,” said Sharapova. “Everyone wants to play there at least once in their career. I look forward to coming back to New York for the Showdown.” Roddick added, “I have never had a chance to play at the Garden before and to play Roger there will make it a special night. I am really looking forward to a great event.” “Madison Square Garden has an unparalleled history of great tennis with more than 80 years featuring some of the very best in the game in a unique arena setting,” said Scott O’Neil, president, MSG Sports. “At the BNP Paribas Showdown on March 5th, Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Maria Sharapova and Caroline Wozniacki will all grace The Garden court and entertain a very New York crowd joining the ranks of tennis greats featured at The World’s Most Famous Arena.” “Having four of the most popular tennis players of the past decade at the BNP Paribas Showdown should make for an exciting night of tennis for the New York fans. This lineup carries on the great tradition of tennis at Madison Square Garden and should form the basis for a great celebration of the sport on Tennis Night in America,” said Jerry Solomon, Executive Producer and President of StarGames. “Tennis Night in America” has annually marked the start of the tennis season in the United States and begins a month of professional events that include the BNP Paribas Open and Sony Ericsson Open. Last year Pete Sampras was the spokesman and over 700 tennis facilities across the country participated.

This amazing tennis exhibition will be played just before the hard court season begins ion the USA.

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“Winning a grand slam is unbelievable but, if it was ever to be an Australian Open, that would be something else,” she said. “It is probably the most special grand slam I could possibly win so, if that does happen, that would make the top of my career. “Hopefully, I can ride this wave of confidence and belief into January. “The first grand slam for anyone is very special – but to be Australian and win the Australian Open would be massive. That’s the next dream.” Of the Australian Open expectation, Stosur said: “It is different going into the Aussie Open compared to the others – there has been a bit of expectation in previous years but next year it will be much bigger than it ever has been. “Hopefully, I can handle that – I think all these experiences will allow me to handle it as best I can. “Not too many win a grand slam in their home country – there’s probably a reason for that. “But I would love to break that mould.”

Buzzing from congratulatory texts and emails from Aussie tennis greats Evonne Goolagong Cawley and Margaret Court Smith, Stosur will “have a bit of a party” with family and friends before preparing for this month’s Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

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Janko Tipsarevic looks to level the score in Belgrade against Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro in the second rubber of this Davis Cup by BNP Paribas World Group semifinal clash, following David Nalbandian’s early win over Viktor Troicki.

Tipsarevic is in the form of his life. He enters today’s match having reached his first Grand Slam quarterfinal at the US Open, where he was forced to retire with a leg injury against his team-mate and countryman Djokovic. But Del Potro will prove a tough test for the Serbian. The tall Argentine dispatched both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal en route to his first and only Grand Slam title at the 2009 US Open and holds the notable distinction of inflicting the worst Grand Slam defeat on the mighty Spaniard. Del Potro has a perfect record against Tipsarevic in his two previous meetings and he and his team will be hoping for more of the same today. Novak Djokovic’s exhaustion from winning the U.S. Open and the long journey home have already dealt a blow to Serbia’s hopes of retaining their Davis Cup title, after his replacement Troicki was blown away by Nalbandian in their opening singles rubber. Former world No. 3 Nalbandian, now ranked 74th, produced a performance reminiscent of his prime to win 64 46 62 63 and give the Argentines a 1-0 lead in the Belgrade Arena, where a small but colourful and vociferous band of away fans had much more to cheer about than the partisan 15,000 home crowd. Troicki drew first blood when he broke his opponent in the third game of the opening set but Nalbandian showed no nerves, as he broke back in the sixth and again in the ninth before he held serve to take the first set. The roles were reversed in the second set, when Troicki carved out a double break point in the ninth game and took the second before he levelled the score to send the home crowd into raptures. Serbia’s fans, however, were silent for the rest of the contest as Nalbandian produced a flurry of winners in the third set, including an audacious lob which had the Argentinian contingent in the terraces, all wearing the country’s blue-and-white soccer team shirts, in full swing. Nalbandian raced through the fourth set just as impressively to seal the tie in 2 hours and 51 minutes, putting Argentina in the driving seat ahead of the day’s second rubber between Janko Tipsarevic and 2009 U.S. Open winner Juan Martin del Potro.

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Australia gave themselves a fighting chance of returning to the Davis Cup World Group after splitting their singles matches with Switzerland on Friday but will wonder what could have been after Lleyton Hewitt eyed off an improbable victory over Roger Federer. Rising star Bernard Tomic started the tie in style with a four-set win over Stanislas Wawrinka before the unlikely started to look possible with Hewitt a set and a break up over the 16-time Grand Slam champion. But class prevailed in the second singles match as Federer fought his way back from 3-1 down to claim a 5-7 7-6(5) 6-2 6-3 victory. Hewitt has little to be unhappy about though, his spirited play rendering his world ranking of No.199 meaningless and the former world No.1 will fancy his chances against the disappointing Wawrinka on Sunday.

The Swiss No.2 had started brightly against Tomic, mixing up his play and even managing a number of successful forays to the net. But the lanky Tomic loosened up after the first set, playing the kind of grasscourt tennis that took him to the Wimbledon quarter-finals this year. His mix of touch, flat shots and moments of pure power nullified anything the world No.19 could come up with and the 18-year-old registered a 4-6 6-4 6-3 6-3 win.

Much will now hinge on Saturday’s doubles match with Hewitt and Chris Guccione slated to to play Federer and Wawrinka.

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Williams has dropped a big hint that she will be playing in the next instalment of the Hopman Cup in Perth, starting in late December. And the 13-time grand slam champion has also indicated she will bring ace Andy Roddick as her playing partner in what would be a mighty US team in the mixed doubles championship. Williams sent out a curious message via her twitter account about her plans for the Australian summer. ”Me and @andyroddick decided to play mixed doubles Australia! We Love Aussie! …… Book it its real!,” said the tweet. And the reason why there is speculation the pair will be in Perth for New Year’s Eve is that the Hopman Cup is the only tournament on the Australian summer tennis calendar with a top-level mixed doubles competition outside the Australian Open. Adding spice to the suggestion is that Roddick hasn’t played men’s doubles, let alone mixed doubles, at a grand slam event for 10 years. Hopman Cup organisers replied to the Williams-Roddick claims via twitter and the comment gave hope that the American duo were coming to town. ”Can’t confirm anything just yet, it was a midnight tweet from Serena in the US, so no word from her agent at this stage,” the tweet said. Williams, working her back to full fitness following injury, is ranked 14th on the women’s tour and earlier this week lost to Australia’s Sam Stosur in the US Open final. Roddick, ranked 14 on the men’s circuit, won the 2003 US Open and is a former world No.1. The pair plan to play in the mixed doubles at the London Olympics next year and could be looking to use the Hopman Cup to fine-tune their game. Williams won the Hopman Cup in her two appearances in 2003 (with James Blake) and 2007 (with Mardy Fish). Should Roddick come to Perth it would be his first time at the event.

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Novak Djokovic arrived home on Thursday afternoon from his triumphant exploits at the US Open on Monday night, and he is due to open Serbia’s Davis Cup by BNP Paribas semifinal against Argentina on Friday. But players and captains from both teams were finding it hard to disguise their suspicion that Djokovic might not play on Friday. The Davis Cup rules are clear. Once a player has been nominated at the draw ceremony, he has to play on the opening day unless he can produce a medical certificate from the independent tie doctor showing he is unable to play. The rule exists to protect the integrity of the opening day nominations, but to leave open enough flexibility to replace a genuinely ailing player and thereby avoid the demoralising spectacle of a walkover. It’s a rule Djokovic made use of last year in almost identical circumstances. He played a Monday night final at the US Open, was nominated for the opening singles against the Czech Republic four days later, but woke up on Friday morning with a viral problem, and didn’t play until Saturday. This year he is back even later than last year, and was given dispensation to miss the draw ceremony because of his extended media commitments in New York. At the time the draw took place, Djokovic was still in the air, but he was due to practise on Thursday afternoon. That means that, for the time being at least, the line-up for this semifinal reads as follows:

Friday

R1: Novak Djokovic (SRB) v David Nalbandian (ARG)

R2: Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) v Juan Martin del Potro (ARG)

Saturday

R3: Janko Tipsarevic / Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) v Juan Ignacio Chela / Juan Monaco (ARG)

Sunday

R4: Novak Djokovic (SRB) v Juan Martin del Potro (ARG)

R5: Janko Tipsarevic (SRB) v David Nalbandian (ARG)

The missing name in that list is Victor Troicki; Serbia’s hero from last December’s final when he won the decisive fifth rubber against Michael Llodra. But Troicki is preparing to play. “We’re still waiting for Novak to arrive from New York,” he said, “and we’ll see how he feels. If he’s not that great, I’ll be definitely ready to play the first match against Nalbandian. Last year I found out three hours before the match that I would play, but this time I’m aware that he might not play if he’s not right.” Argentina’s selection is a gamble in itself. Nalbandian is the talisman, a proven Davis Cup player who has won vital matches even when not fully fit. After a run of injuries, it’s unlikely the 29-year-old can play on all three days, so the decision to throw him in on the opening day is clearly based on facing Troicki, against whom Nalbandian has a 3-1 winning head-to-head. Argentina’s captain Tito Vazquez appears happy with his selection gamble, even with Djokovic nominated. “David has been a main feature for Argentina in Davis Cup for the last few years, he’s a real cup player, he’s been trying quite hard to come back on the circuit, he played an excellent first set against Nadal in the US Open, and he’s a player who’s capable of beating anybody, so that’s why we chose him. Every match is difficult in this tie, but every match counts, so we’re going out from the beginning to put out the best that we have.”

With all the speculation around Djokovic and Argentina’s gamble with Nalbandian, the second singles has almost become overshadowed, but it could be the key to Argentina’s chances of reaching a fourth Davis Cup final. Juan Martin del Potro takes a 2-0 winning record into his match against Janko Tipsarevic, both victories on hard courts. But Tipsarevic is up to a career-high ranking of No. 13 following his US Open quarterfinal, and the low-bouncing medium-fast surface could help him as the shorter of the two players. And with all the speculation surrounding personnel, it would be a surprise if the doubles nominations remain unchanged. Certainly Nenad Zimonjic says he’s keeping open the option of partnering Djokovic, Tipsarevic or Troicki on Saturday, depending on how Friday’s events unfold, and while Chela and Monaco have been practising together in Belgrade this week, the possibility of Nalbandian coming in cannot be ruled out.

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Watson broke her opponent’s serve six times, but still needed four match points to end Arvidsson’s resistance and seal a 7-5 6-3 victory in a match lasting an hour and 35 minutes. The 19-year-old from Guernsey will play third seed Tamira Paszek in the last eight after the Austrian battled past Varvara Lepchenko in three sets. Paszek lost the opening set on a tie-break but hit back to win 6-7 (2/7) 6-3 7-6 (7/4).

Elsewhere on Wednesday, fourth seed Rebecca Marino got the better of fellow Canadian Aleksandra Wozniak 6-4 4-6 6-4, while Holland’s Michaella Krajicek beat France’s Julie Coin 7-5 4-6 6-1.

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