Tennis Without A Stepladder

Well, nothing's out of reach if you've got long arms, but I guess Australia's arms are not all that long at the moment, and we ain't got no stepladder. Oh well. We're trying. Gooch and Looch did their best, but we're still 2-0 down... not that anyone was expecting anything else. I guess all we can hope with is an articulation of the ol' 'give it your best and no one can ask more' adage. Maybe we can scrape a win in one of the dead rubbers. That would be fun.

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Australia isn't the only country down 2-0 this morning - both the USA and Russia are in the same situation. I must confess, though, that although the USA are two rubbers down, they did perform much better than I thought they would, considering this is clay. Who'd ever have thought they'd see Sam Querrey up a set and a break against Rafa Nadal? I didn't see the match - was Querrey playing well or Rafa poorly up to that point? Rafa won, of course - who'd expect anything less from the Spanish conquistador on clay? - but kudos to Querrey for doing so well. Snaps.

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Meanwhile, who'd ever have thought David Ferrer would be taken to five on clay by A-Rod? Certainly not me. I would have put money on Ferru to win in straights every time. So the USA challenge has been much more spirited than I thought it would be.

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And how 'bout Argentina? Juan Martin del Potro especially! He walked all over Kolya Davydenko, a player who, despite his recent attitude problems, has been ranked in the top ten consistently for, like, ever. Del Potro pulverised him. Nalbandian didn't exactly pulverise Andreev, but he certainly got the job done, and so it looks like the Spain/Argentina final I wanted is imminent. I think Russia'll probably get the doubles, but it's going to be very interesting to see how the reverse singles go - especially the Davydenko/Nalbandian match. That could be smashing.

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And another country up 2-0 is Switzerland. Federer cruised, Wawrinka struggled, but Belgium ain't got no points. Hopp Suisse!

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Today's Results

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Davis Cup - Semi Finals

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Argentina 2, Russia 0

David Nalbandian def. Igor Andreev, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 6-4

Juan Martin del Potro def. Nikolay Davydenko, 6-1 6-4 6-2

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Spain 2, USA 0

Rafael Nadal def. Sam Querrey, 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-3 6-4

David Ferrer def. A Roddick, 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-2 4-6 8-6

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Davis Cup - Playoffs

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Chile 2, Australia 0

Nicolas Massu def. Chris Guccione,7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 7-6 (7-2)

Fernando Gonzalez def. Peter Luczak, 6-2 6-2 6-3

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Great Britain 1, Austria 1

Jurgen Melzer def. Alex Bogdanovic, 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 6-1

Andy Murray def. Alexander Peya, 6-4 6-1 6-3

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Switzerland 2, Belgium 0

Roger Federer def. Kristof Vliegen, 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 6-2

Stanislas Wawrinka def. Steve Darcis, 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 6-3 2-6 6-4

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Croatia 2, Brazil 0

Mario Ancic def. Thomaz Bellucci, 6-2 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-3)

Ivo Karlovic def. Thiago Alves, 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-3) 7-5

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Israel 1, Peru 1

Luis Horna def. Harel Levy, 7-5 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-3

Dudi Sela def. Ivan Miranda, 6-2 6-1 3-6 6-4

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Netherlands 1, Korean Republic 1

Hyung-taik Lee def. Thiemmo de Bakker, 6-4 6-3 6-3

Jesse Huta Galung def. Kyu-Tae Im, 6-3 6-3 5-7 6-2

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Romania 2, India 0

Victor Crivoi def. Prakash Amritraj, 7-5 5-7 6-2 6-2

Victor Hanescu def. Somdev Devvarman, 6-3 6-1 6-0

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Serbia 2, Slovak Republic 0

Novak Djokovic def. Dominik Hrbaty, 6-2 6-4 6-3

Janko Tipsarevic def. Lucas Lacko, 6-7 (3-7) 4-6 6-4 7-6 (7-5) 8-6

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Toray Pan Pacific Open (Tokyo)

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Svetlana Kuznetsova def. Jelena Jankovic, 2-6 7-5 7-5

Katarina Srebotnik def. Elena Dementieva, 6-3 6-4

Dinara Safina def. Kaia Kanepi, 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-2

Nadia Petrova def. Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-3 6-0

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TOE Life Ceramics Guangzhou International Women's Open (Guangzhou)

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Vera Zvonareva def. Karin Knapp, 6-1 6-0

Zheng Jie def. Tamira Paszek, 6-2 6-1

Peng Shuai def. Jill Craybas, 6-4 6-1

Camille Pin def. Arantxa Rus, 6-3 6-3