FRANCE beats ARGENTINA 3-0
Venue: Palais des Sports de Gerland, Lyon, France (hard - indoors)
Nine-time former champion France reached its first Davis Cup by BNP Paribas final since 2002 when Arnaud Clement andMichael Llodra beat ArgentinesEduardo Schwank and Horacio Zeballos 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and 29 minutes on Saturday. France is competing in the arena where it won the 1991 Davis Cup final.
Clement and Llodra, who have a 7-2 team record for France in the international men’s team competition and captured the 2007 Wimbledontitle, gave the host nation an unassailable 3-0 win over Argentina after converting five of 15 break point opportunities. The duo also hit 11 aces and 43 groundstroke winners.
"I am very proud, they're all here together, the seven of them, those who played and those who also contributed to this victory," said France’s captain Guy Forget. "There is still a great tie to be played."
Llodra added: "This is fabulous. I am, with my mates, in the Davis Cup final, now with my mate Arnaud, I'm so happy. We're like good wine, we get better with age."
Clement, 32, was grateful to get the chance to play. "I know I'm also here because others were injured. I now want everybody to be fit for the final so that Guy (Forget) can pick the best ones."
CZECH REPUBLIC leads SERBIA 2-1
Venue: Belgrade Arena, Belgrade, Serbia (hard - indoors)
Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek have given last year’s finalist Czech Republic the upper hand in its World Group semi-final versus Serbia in Belgrade. The pair recorded its seventh win in eight doubles rubber by overcoming US Open finalist Novak Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 in two hours and 38 minutes. Zimonjic dropped serve on four occasions, including on three straight occasions midway through the rubber.
"We played as a team today," said Berdych. "I didn't feel that good after yesterday and after we lost the first set, but we had a good atmosphere on the court and I got better and better."
Stepanek added: "I am definitely pleased how we played, we had great team spirit. We didn't go down mentally even after losing the first set. This will surely give us a lot of positive energy for tomorrow."
The Czech Republic, with a 2-1 lead ahead of Sunday’s reverse singles rubbers, will look to Berdych to beat either Viktor Troicki or Djokovic. Stepanek will contest the fifth rubber against Janko Tipsarevic.
