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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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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Ernests Gulbis caused a major shock as he beat second seed Juan Martin Del Potro 6-2 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the Farmers Classic. It was his first win in three meetings with the Argentinian, who struggled to make an impact on his opponent’s serve. Next up for Gulbis is Alex Bogomolov Jr, who beat fourth seed Thomaz Bellucci 1-6 6-4 6-1 to reach his first ATP Tour semi-final.

The other semi will be an all-American affair between the top seed Mardy Fish, who beat Igor Kunitsyn 6-2 6-4, and Ryan Harrison, a 3-6 6-3 6-4 winner over Lu Yen-hsun.

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The popular American battled hard and took the second set to a tie-break, but ultimately succumbed to a 6-4 7-6 (7/3) defeat. ”It was a really tough match for me,” said Del Potro. I think I am still far away from the top 10 players. I know it’s a long road to get there.” Next up for Del Potro is Latvia’s Ernests Gulbis, who claimed a 6-2 6-4 win over America’s Daniel Kosakowski.

It was a bad day for third seed Marcos Baghdatis who lost 6-3 6-4 to Lu Yen-hsun of Chinese Taipei. ”I didn’t really expect this,” admitted Lu. “He’s a great player with a lost of titles. he has beaten a lot of guys. ”I had a little advantage over him. I had one match behind me and he was playing his first match since Wimbledon.”

There was also a straight-sets win for Ryan Harrison, who beat fellow American Michael Russell 6-3 6-4.

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Juan Martin del Potro can’t wait to get back to the US Open, scene of his breakthrough Grand Slam triumph in 2009, but first he’ll try to take care of business in a return to US hard courts at Los Angeles. “I am very excited to come back to New York,” said del Potro, who didn’t get a chance to defend his title at Flushing Meadows in 2010 after a wrist injury cut short his season. “If I could start to play tomorrow I would. First I have very important tournaments before. “This tournament, it’s important for me – it will be my first tournament after clay and grass season.”

The Argentinian is the second seed behind American Mardy Fish in the tournament on the campus of the University of California at Los Angeles. He has painstakingly climbed from 484th in the world rankings to 19th and admitted he was ready to put the wrist injury behind him and just focus on his game. “It has been a very long while since my wrist injury. Now I’m OK and getting better with my tennis with my mind and all my problems are in the past,” said del Potro, who joked that he had answered so many questions about the injury that he now just pushes “play” and starts talking when asked about it. He’s less concerned with the past than with the future and his goal of returning to the top 10. “I still believe in my game,” said del Potro who, like Fish and third and fourth seeds Marcos Baghdatis and Thomaz Bellucci, enjoys a first-round bye here. “I’m very confident with my level at this moment.”

Del Potro noted that Los Angeles was the scene of his first hardcourt title, in 2008. This year it will be a jumping off point for the Masters events at Montreal and Cincinnati prior to the US Open, which starts on August 29 in New York. “It’s a nice tournament for me,” said del Potro, who was ousted in the fourth round at Wimbledon by Rafael Nadal. “I won my first hardcourt tournament here in LA. I have very good memories.”

Since Wimbledon, del Potro helped Argentina to a 5-0 whitewash of Kazakhstan in the Davis Cup, the Argentinians booking a semifinal showdown with defending champs Serbia in the nations tournament.

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Andy Roddick battled past Spain’s Feliciano Lopez in a high-quality second-round match. With top seeds Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray involved in doubles action, ahead of opening their singles campaigns on Wednesday, the focus on day two fell on Roddick and his first match of the year on grass. The 28-year-old American, who had a bye in round one as the third seed, faced a significant test against Spanish serve-volleyer Lopez but came through a tight contest 7-6 (7-2) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4. Roddick was playing for the first time in a month after pulling out of the French Open with a shoulder injury, and looking for his first win anywhere since March. Lopez, twice a Wimbledon quarter-finalist, had impressed in his opening win over Dmitry Tursunov on Monday and fired down 35 aces against Roddick, but after the first two sets were split on tie-breaks, the American recovered from a break down to take the decider. Roddick responded with a love break after dropping serve at 1-1 and clinched victory in game 10 with some superb returning, his passionate celebration illustrating how much the result meant to him. ”I love it on grass and am so happy to be back on it,” he said after a welcome two-hour-25-minute contest. “I feel good. ”As for this match, I played to win. Of course we come over to prepare for Wimbledon, but we’re trying to win this tournament.” Andy Roddick knew this match would be tough. And he also knew – as his coach Larry Stefanki would – that had he lost it would’ve been two weeks before Wimbledon kicking his heels. So to that win… he needed that badly. He’s had a bad year, with injuries and everything else, and that all means he’s not being mentioned in terms of Wimbledon now. But he might like that. And no-one is going to want him on their half of the draw, certainly not any one of the top four players

Former US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro had earlier opened play on Centre Court with a 6-4 6-2 win over Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, the world number 61. Del Potro is seeded 12th at Queen’s as he makes his way back up the rankings after missing most of 2010 with a serious wrist injury, but most observers see the 6ft 6in 22-year-old as a potential rival to the world’s top four when back to full match sharpness. The next few weeks might not see the very best of him as he has never been past the second round in three trips to Wimbledon and one previous appearance at Queen’s, and several slips on the slick grass suggested he is still not completely comfortable on the surface. A nasty fall when reaching to return serve midway through the second set was a real alarm but, after having his thigh taped, Del Potro’s heavy game and potent serve worked well enough to despatch Istomin in one hour and 23 minutes.

There were straight-sets wins for ninth seed David Nalbandian and Xavier Malisse, who will face Murray in round two, with defending champion Sam Querrey, Fernando Verdasco and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga still to play on Tuesday.

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Friday is shaping up to be an exciting day at the 2011 French Open with several key matches that could upset the outcome of the tournament. On the men’s side is the match between Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin delPotro. On paper it looks like another win for Djokovic, but the big Argentine is playing far above the level his ranking would suggest. This could easily turn into a long 5 set match, and deplete Djokovic’s energy for week two.

Defending champion Schiavonne is facing hard hitting Shuai Peng, and based on current form this could be the end of the Italian’s reign. Marion Bartoli, the home town favorite, will face relative new comer Julia Goerges in a test of the potential for the German who many have picked as the surprise eventual winner.

Bethanie Matek-Sands will try to defeat Jelena Jankovic again. A win for the American could vault her up the rankings to be the #1 American.

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The Serb, yet to lose in 2011, had way too much for Romanian Victor Hanescu, who was forced to retire hurt when 6-4 6-1 2-3 down. The victory meant Djokovic moved into joint fourth place in the list of longest winning streaks in the Open era, closing in on Guillermo Vilas’ all-time record of 46 consecutive wins. However, his hopes of moving further up that particular list look likely to be severely tested by Del Potro on Friday. The former US Open champion is now fully fit again after a wrist injury ruined his 2010 campaign and the 2009 semi-finalist looked in fine fettle as he beat Slovenian Blaz Kavcic in straight sets.

Djokovic entertained the crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier with some fantastic tennis in an opening set that saw his Romanian foe stand toe-to-toe with him and look comfortable in the process. Both men played an array of shots but there was clear intent from Hanescu to take the game to the world number two. Djokovic showed no signs of sitting back though and reacted superbly, stepping up a gear and serving three consecutive games to love. Despite proving a worthy adversary for the most part, Hanescu eventually succumbed to the Serbian in the 10th game after conceding three break points. It was the first time either man had a chance to break serve and Djokovic snapped up the chance to go ahead in the tie. Djokovic showed the gulf in class between the two men as the tie went into the second set. Hanescu continued to play well but was no match for Djokovic, who improved with each passing point. The Serbian looked strong on both forehand and backhand and stormed to a 6-1 set win over his Romanian opponent, who called for the trainer immediately after. After some brief treatment on his thigh, play recommenced and Hanescu returned to hold serve in the opening game of the third set. Serve continued to dominate until, with Djokovic trailing 2-3, Hanescu decided he could no longer continue and threw in the towel.

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