The Hindu : Sport / Tennis : Federer forces deciding match; Belarus wins 5-0

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Monday, Apr 12, 2004

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Sport - Tennis

Federer forces deciding match; Belarus wins 5-0

LONDON, APRIL 11. World No. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland defeated France's Arnaud Clement 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 on Sunday to force a decisive fifth match in their Davis Cup quarterfinal tie.

In the other quarterfinals, Belarus completed a 5-0 sweep over Argentina with singles victories on Sunday for Max Mirnyi and Vladimir Voltchkov. Belarus had reached its first Davis Cup semifinal on Saturday, taking doubles for an insurmountable 3-0 lead.

The Netherlands narrowed Spain's lead to 2-1, winning a doubles match that was stopped by rain on Saturday and completed on Sunday. Martin Verkerk and John van Lottum rallied from two sets down to beat Tommy Robredo and Rafael Nadal 2-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 and 6-2.

American twin brothers Bob and Mike Bryan easily beat Jonas Bjorkman and Thomas Johansson 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 for a 2-1 lead over Sweden.

At Lausanne, Switzerland, Federer's victory left Swiss hopes with Michel Kratochvil, who was called in by captain Marc Rosset in place of Ivo Heuberger for the final match.

Kratochvil faced Nicolas Escude, who lost to Federer in the first match but paired up with Michael Llodra for a victory in doubles on Saturday.

``I played well from the beginning. I'm very happy with my performance,'' Federer said.

``It was an OK match but it wasn't perfect, and to beat Roger these days you need to have a near-perfect match,'' Clement said.

``He scores a lot of winners and puts the pressure on. He hits hard and makes you make mistakes on top of the points he makes himself.''

The winner of the tie will face Spain or the Netherlands in the semifinals.

At Palma de Mallorca, Verkerk and Van Lottum were two sets down but came from behind to defeat Robredo and Nadal 2-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 and 6-2. The Dutchmen were on the verge of elimination when play was suspended Saturday by rain. Spain won both singles matches on Friday.

Spain is trying to reach the semifinals for the third time in five seasons.

Van Lottum was thrilled by the come-from-behind doubles win, but realistic about Dutch chances.

``We got killed in both of the singles (Friday). That was hard on us. You could see that in the first two (doubles) sets. But in the third set, which wasn't even that good, we won and thought: `We can win here'.''

At Minsk, Max Mirnyi and Voltchkov completed Belarus' sweep of Argentina with victories on Sunday.

On Sunday, Mirnyi defeated Lucas Arnold 6-1, 6-2, while Voltchkov won over Juan Monaco 3-6, 6-3, 6-3.

At Delray Beach, Florida, the Bryan brothers easily beat Jonas Bjorkman and Thomas Johansson 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to give the Americans a 2-1 lead heading into the reverse singles. The United States is 35-0 since 1987 when taking a lead into the third day.

Bryan and Bryan served well and dominated at the net against the Swedes. The Americans directed many of their shots at Johansson, a replacement for Joachim Johansson, sidelined last week by a shoulder injury.

The results:

At Minsk: Belarus 5, Argentina 0 (Max Mirnyi bt Lucas Arnold 6-1, 6-2; Vladimir Voltchkov bt Juan Monaco 3-6, 6-3, 6-3; Mirnyi & Vladimir Voltchkov bt Agustin Calleri & Arnold 6-3, 6-4, 6-1).

At Lausanne: Switzerland 2, France 2 (Roger Federer bt Arnaud Clement 6-2, 7-5, 6-4; Federer & Yves Allegro lost to Nicolas Escude & Michael Llodra 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-7 (5), 3-6).

At Palma de Mallorca: Spain 2, Netherlands 1 (Tommy Robredo & Rafael Nadal lost to Martin Verkerk & John van Lottum 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 2-6, 2-6.

At Delray Beach: United States 2, Sweden 1 (Bob & Mike Bryan bt Jonas Bjorkman & Thomas Johansson 6-3, 6-4, 6-4).

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