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Fabulous Federer Leads Swiss Coup
Roger Federer almost single-handedly led Switzerland into the Davis Cup semifinals Sunday, crushing Frenchman Fabrice Santoro 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 to claim his third point from the tie. Federer, who has won his past eight World Group singles matches without dropping a set, next leads Switzerland into an away semi against Australia, which crushed Sweden.
Spain and Argentina will meet in the other semifinal after routing Croatia and Russia respectively. More...
DAVIS CUP April 4, 2003
Davis Cup Quarterfinals
Federer Flails Frenchmen.
SWITZERLAND D. FRANCE 3-2
Le Zenith Stadium, Toulouse, France. (Indoor Hard).
France: Guy Forget (Captain); Sebastien Grosjean, Nicolas Escude, Fabrice Santoro, Michael Llodra.
Switzerland: Marc Rosset (Captain); Roger Federer, Ivo Heuberger, George Bastl.
Ruthless Roger Federer led Switzerland to its second Davis Cup semifinal appearance with a powerful 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, who stood in for Sebastien Grosjean, who suffered a left leg injury during the opening day of singles on Friday. Federer won all three of his rubbers during the tie. He has won all four singles matches at Davis Cup level this year without dropping a set.
Federer continues to emerge as a legendary Davis Cup player. He has won his past eight World Group singles matches (all of which have been live) without dropping a set and has won 13 of his past 14 singles matches at World Group level.
Swittzerland last appeared in the Davis Cup semifinals in 1992.
On Saturday, Switzerland took a pivotal 2-1 edge over France, after Federer and Marc Rosset won a crucial tie-break over France's Nicolas Escude and Fabrice Santoro. The Swiss team silenced the Toulouse crowd, after they edged the Frenchmen 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). On Friday, Grosjean earned a point for France by defeating George Bastl, but Federer powered past Escude to keep Switzerland well in the running.
AUSTRALIA D. SWEDEN 5-0
Baltiska Hallen, Malmo, Sweden. (Indoor Hard).
Sweden: Mats Wilander (Captain); Thomas Enqvist, Jonas Bjorkman, Magnus Norman, Joachim Johansson.
Australia: John Fitzgerald (Captain); Lleyton Hewitt, Mark Philippoussis, Wayne Arthurs, Todd Woodbridge.
Australia claimed a 5-0 whitewash against traditional rival Sweden in Malmo. Mark Philippoussis, who spearheaded Australia's victory against France in the 1999 final, clipped Jonas Bjorkman 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in the opening singles rubber. World No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt then took four sets to beat Thomas Enqvist to put the Aussies ahead 2-0 after day one. Then Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs defeated Jonas Bjorkman and Enqvist 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 to seal the tie. The victory also gave Woodbridge his 21st Davis Cup doubles win - a new Australian record.
"Everything clicked this weekend," said Australian captain John Fitzgerald. "I could not be any more proud of the boys than I am right now. Every one of them did their part. It was a great weekend and they all play very good tennis."
If Australia wins its home semifinal against Switzerland it will also host the final against the winner of Spain and Argentina. "It's a massive opportunity to get two home matches in a row, semis and finals. To have both those at home would be pretty big for us," Arthurs said. "Roger (Federer) has proved over the last few years that he's a bloody good Davis Cup player. He's held that team together. If they don't have him, they don't have anybody. He's shown he's up there in the top five, top three even, of Davis Cup players of his time."
SPAIN D. CROATIA 5-0
Club Tenis Valencia, Valencia, Spain. (Clay).
Spain: Jordi Arrese (Captain); Alex Corretja, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Albert Costa, Carlos Moya.
Croatia: Nikola Pilic (Captain); Ivan Ljubicic, Mario Ancic, Lovro Zovko, Mario Radic.
Spain dropped just one set in its 5-0 defeat of Croatia in Valencia. Juan Carlos Ferrero defeated Mario Ancic in straight sets on day one and then Carlos Moya rallied from a set down to defeat first-round hero Ivan Ljubicic in four sets. Alex Corretja and Albert Costa then sealed the tie with a crushing 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 win in the doubles against Ljubicic and Lovro Zovko.
Spain, which will host Argentina in the semifinals, will attempt to win through to the final for the first time since claiming its first Davis Cup trophy in 2000. "Argentina have a very strong team on clay," Spanish captain Jordi Arrese said. "I think it's going to be tough but we will be playing at home and that's a huge advantage for us."
ARGENTINA D. RUSSIA 3-0
Club Atletico River Plate, Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Clay).
Argentina: Gustavo Luza (Captain); David Nalbandian, Gaston Gaudio, Mariano Zabaleta, Lucas Arnold.
Russia: Shamil Tarpischev (Captain); Marat Safin, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Mikhail Youzhny, Nikolay Davydenko.
Argentina avenged its loss to Russia in last year's semifinals when it stunned the defending champion 5-0 in Buenos Aires. By winning their doubles match, Lucas Arnold and David Nalbandian sealed victory for Argentina. Before a supportive Buenos Aires crowd, Arnold and Nalbandian overcame a first set loss to defeat Yevgeny Kafelnikov and Mikhail Youzhny 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3. On Friday, David Nalbandian won his singles match against Nikolay Davydenko, while Gaston Gaudio easily fought past Kafelnikov. Russia suffered a blow to its bid to defend the title when Marat Safin withdrew with an ankle injury.
"I didn't expect this 5-0 [result], this is really unbelievable," said Argentine Captain Gustavo Luza. "Beating the last champion… with this score, I never dreamed it." I think Spain is [the] favorite [in the semifinals], because they have higher ranked players, their history, they are at home, but we are a very strong team. We are going to go there with a lot of humility and that is very dangerous for them," said Luza.
source:
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