Serbia advance without Djovokic in Davis Cup

Monday, February 13, 2012

LONDON, England (AP) — Serbia did just fine without Novak Djovokic in the Davis Cup, while Russia's shorthanded team was surprisingly eliminated by Austria yesterday.

Serbia swept the reverse singles against Sweden to complete a 4-1 victory at home and set up a quarter-final against the Czech Republic, with Janko Tipsarevic clinching the win by beating Michael Ryderstedt of Sweden 6-2, 7-6 (5), 7-5.

Dusan Lajovic then defeated Sweden's Filip Prpic 6-4, 6-4 in the last match.

Djokovic skipped the first-round series to rest up after winning the Australian Open, but he was hardly missed against a Sweden team that was without Robin Soderling, who is sidelined with a long-term illness.

Russia had a harder time without their highest ranked player, Mikhail Youzhny, who was struggling with a sore shoulder and wasn't picked for the singles matches. Jurgen Melzer eased past Alex Bogomolov Jr 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 to clinch the series for Austria, which reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 1995.

Two-time champion Russia, who was also without the 49th-ranked Dmitry Tursunov, lost their opening tie for a second straight year.

The Austrians will have a tougher task next, as they face defending champion Spain in the April 6-8 quarter-finals.

Spain and the United States both completed 5-0 sweeps yester day against Kazakhstan and Switzerland, respectively.

Spain were also without their regulars — including Rafael Nadal — but had already clinched the series following Saturday's doubles. Nicolas Almagro and Marcel Granollers finished off the rout in Oviedo.

Almagro needed just 82 minutes to beat Evgeny Korolov 6-3, 6-4 before Granollers secured a 6-3, 6-7 (2), 6-3 win over Andrey Golubev.

The Americans had already eliminated favoured Switzerland, as Roger Federer lost to John Isner in Friday's opening singles, and then was defeated again along with Olympic doubles partner Stanislas Wawrinka on Saturday as the US took a 3-0 lead.

Teenager Ryan Harrison made a winning debut to help complete the sweep, beating Michael Lammer 7-6 (0), 7-6 (4), before Isner overcame Marco Chuidinelli 6-3, 6-4.

The US will travel to either France or Canada in the April 6-8 quarter-finals.

Czech Republic completed a 4-1 win over Italy, Argentina ousted Germany by the same score and Croatia beat Japan 3-2.