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Argentinian player David Nalbandian celebrates after winning against Russian player Mikhail Youzhny on July 11, 2010, during their quarterfinal match of the Davis Cup World Group in Moscow. Nalbandian won 6-7, 4-6, 3-6.

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He can't seem to play anywhere else anymore. I can't even remember the last time I've seen him hit a tennis ball at an ATP event, yet here he is doing what he does in Davis Cup once again:

Winning.

Russian team players haven't exactly been in the mood for great tennis of late, but still: DaVEED led Argentina to a victory over Russia in Davis Cup in Moscow.

Mardy Fish added a grass court title to his resume in Newport, completing the career, all-surface title holder list with only his fourth career title.


AP

And Rafael Nadal was in South Africa to witness his nation's history-making performance in the World Cup.

I watched a bit of it. Given that my mate is from the Netherlands and we have a visitor from the Netherlands interning on the farm, it's safe to see I flew solo in the field for most of the day yesterday.

Depressed, they emerged after the final ready to sow fall crops. Carrots, beets, scallions, leeks, lettuce, rutabagas, celeriac, sugar peas, and more carrots. They were quite industrious.

Had to break the news to the mate, after the fact, of course, that while I couldn't exactly cheer for Spain, I didn't see the Netherlands winning their first World Cup title in South Africa. Karma and all that.

But that's an essay for another blog and another time.

Back in Davis Cup, France kicked Spain squarely in the teeth. Guess the Spanish team was somewhere else...

SERBIA defeats USA 3-2
Venue: Belgrade Arena, Belgrade, Serbia (clay – indoors)


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Reuters

Viktor Troicki (SRB) d John Isner (USA) 76(4) 67(5) 75 64
Novak Djokovic (SRB) d Sam Querrey (USA) 62 76(4) 26 63
Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan/John Isner (USA) d Janko Tipsarevic/Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) 76(8) 57 76(8) 63
Novak Djokovic (SRB) d. John Isner (USA) 75 36 63 67(6) 64
Sam Querrey (USA) d. Viktor Troicki (SRB) 75 62

SPAIN defeats SWITZERLAND 4-1
Venue: Plaza de Toros de la Ribera, Logrono, Spain (clay – indoors)


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Reuters


Reuters

Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) d Nicolas Almagro (ESP) 36 64 36 75 63
David Ferrer (ESP) d Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 62 76(5) 61
Marcel Granollers/Tommy Robredo (ESP) d Yves Allegro/Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 76(8) 62 46 64
David Ferrer (ESP) d. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 62 64 60
Nicolas Almagro (ESP) d. Marco Chiudinelli (SUI) 61 63

FRANCE defeats GERMANY 4-1
Venue: Palais des Sports, Toulon, France (hard - indoors)


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Reuters

Gael Monfils (FRA) d Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 61 64 76(5)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) d Benjamin Becker (GER) 63 62 67(2) 63
Julien Benneteau/Michael Llodra (FRA) d Christopher Kas/Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER) 61 64 16 75
Simon Greul (GER) d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 46 62 1-0 ret.
Julien Benneteau (FRA) d. Benjamin Becker (GER) 62 75

RUSSIA defeats INDIA 3-2
Venue: Small Sports Arena "Luzhniki", Moscow, Russia (hard – indoors)


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Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) d Somdev Devvarman (IND) 67(6) 76(4) 63 64
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) d Rohan Bopanna (IND) 64 62 63
Mahesh Bhupathi/Leander Paes (IND) d Teimuraz Gabashvili/Igor Kunitsyn (RUS) 63 62 62
Mikhail Youzhny (RUS) d. Somdev Devvarman (IND) 62 61 63
Rohan Bopanna (IND) d. Teimuraz Gabashvili (RUS) 76(5) 64

ARGENTINA defeats SWEDEN 3-2
Venue: Kungliga Tennishallen, Stockholm, Sweden (hard – indoors)


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Reuters

Robin Soderling (SWE) d Eduardo Schwank (ARG) 61 76(0) 75
Leonardo Mayer (ARG) d Joachim Johansson (SWE) 57 63 75 64
David Nalbandian/Horacio Zeballos (ARG) d Robert Lindstedt/Robin Soderling (SWE) 62 76(4) 76(5)
Robin Soderling (SWE) d. Leonardo Mayer (ARG) 75 76(5) 75
David Nalbandian (ARG) d. Andreas Vinciguerra (SWE) 75 63 46 64


CROATIA defeats ECUADOR 5-0
Venue: Gradska Sportska Dvorana, Varazdin, Croatia (hard – indoors)


AP

Ivo Karlovic (CRO) d Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) 62 57 67(2) 63 64
Marin Cilic (CRO) d Giovanni Lapentti (ECU) 64 63 63
Marin Cilic/Ivo Karlovic (CRO) d Giovanni Lapentti/Nicolas Lapentti (ECU) 76(3) 63 75
Antonio Veic (CRO) d. Julio-Cesar Campozano (ECU) 64 76(4)
Ivan Dodig (CRO) d. Ivan Endara (ECU) 61 63

CHILE defeats ISRAEL 4-1
Venue: Enjoy Tennis Center, Coquimbo, Chile (clay – outdoors)


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Reuters

Nicolas Massu (CHI) d Dudi Sela (ISR) 46 62 62 64
Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) d Harel Levy (ISR) 26 63 64 64
Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram (ISR) d. Jorge Aguilar/Paul Capdeville (CHI) 67(5) 76(9) 26 61 60
Fernando Gonzalez (CHI) d Dudi Sela (ISR) 64 64 63
Nicolas Massu (CHI) d Harel Levy (ISR) 76(3) 61

CZECH REPUBLIC defeats BELGIUM 4-1
Venue: Expodroom, Bree, Belgium (clay – indoors)


Reuters


Reuters

Tomas Berdych (CZE) d Olivier Rochus (BEL) 63 60 64
Radek Stepanek (CZE) d Xavier Malisse (BEL) 62 64 76(3)
Radek Stepanek/Tomas Berdych (CZE) d Steve Darcis/Olivier Rochus (BEL) 76(0) 60 63
Steve Darcis (BEL) d. Jan Hajek (CZE) 76(6) 16 64
Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) d. Christophe Rochus (BEL) 16 76(3) 75

That's what Sam Querrey and John Isner can say about their plans to get some claycourt matches under their belt at the Albierto Mexicano Telcel before traveling to Serbia for Davis Cup in the coming weeks.

Since both have played a lot of tennis of late, winning their first doubles title as a pair in Memphis on Sunday after contesting the singles final, this comes as no surprise, the court surface notwithstanding. Still, Querrey managed to get Fernando González to a third set breaker before bowing out in the first round, while Isner couldn't even manage to win a tiebreak in his straight-set defeat to German veteran Simon Greul.

Would love to have seen Richard Gasquet defeat Carlos Moya in three close sets on Monday. Up next for the Frenchman is defending champion Nicolas Almagro. Two exquisite one-handed backhands go at it later today.

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Singles - First Round
[1] [WC] F Verdasco (ESP) d F Fognini (ITA) 26 64 60
[2] F Gonzalez (CHI) d S Querrey (USA) 64 36 76(2)
[3] D Ferrer (ESP) d P Starace (ITA) 62 64
[4] J Ferrero (ESP) d [Q] D Junqueira (ARG) 62 63
S Greul (GER) d [5] J Isner (USA) 76(4) 75
[6] N Almagro (ESP) d D Sela (ISR) 61 76(0)
[7] J Monaco (ARG) d [Q] A Martin (ESP) 67(6) 75 62
[8] A Montanes (ESP) d D Gimeno-Traver (ESP) 75 46 62
P Cuevas (URU) d M Daniel (BRA) 16 75 76(8) - saved 3 M.P.
J Chela (ARG) d P Luczak (AUS) 60 16 60
V Hanescu (ROU) d F Gil (POR) 76(5) 63
I Andreev (RUS) d [Q] V Crivoi (ROU) 63 64
L Kubot (POL) d H Zeballos (ARG) 61 62

Doubles - First Round
[WC] S Gonzalez (MEX) / N Massu (CHI) d [4] J Brunstrom (SWE) / J Rojer (AHO) 62 67(2) 11-9
[WC] J Elizondo (MEX) / C Ramirez (MEX) d L Arnold Ker (ARG) / T Bellucci (BRA) 76(5) 46 10-8

Women's Singles - First Round
(1) Venus Williams (USA) d. Mathilde Johansson (FRA) 62 63
(3) Gisela Dulko (ARG) d. (Q) Lucie Hradecka (CZE) 61 26 61
(5) Carla Suárez Navarro (ESP) d. (Q) Greta Arn (HUN) 60 60
(7) Roberta Vinci (ITA) d. Arantxa Parra Santonja (ESP) 26 63 64
Kaia Kanepi (EST) d. (WC) Alejandra Granillo (MEX) 60 61
Edina Gallovits (ROU) d. (WC) Zarina Diyas (KAZ) 63 63
Mariya Koryttseva (UKR) d. Angelique Kerber (GER) 57 75 64
(Q) Catalina Castaño (COL) d. Klara Zakopalova (CZE) 57 64 75
(Q) Laura Pous Tio (ESP) d. Patricia Mayr (AUT) 26 62 61

Women's Doubles - First Round
(2) Uhlirova/Voracova (CZE/CZE) d. Craybas/Pelletier (USA/CAN) 76(8) 26 10-6
Errani/Vinci (ITA/ITA) d. (3) Dulko/Szavay (ARG/HUN) 63 63
Mattek-Sands/Shaughnessy (USA/USA) d. Kondratieva/Lefèvre (RUS/FRA) 62 61
Osterloh/Tatishvili (USA/GEO) d. Savchuk/Woerle (UKR/GER) 16 60 12-10
(WC) Cirstea/Cornet (ROU/FRA) d. (WC) Hermoso/Muñoz Gallegos (MEX/MEX) 61 60

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Delray Beach International Tennis Championships

Singles - First Round
[2] I Karlovic (CRO) d P Petzschner (GER) 63 76(3)
[3] B Becker (GER) d K Nishikori (JPN) 63 16 60
[4] J Chardy (FRA) d X Malisse (BEL) 63 76(5)
[6] F Mayer (GER) d [Q] N Lindahl 64 61
[7] J Blake (USA) vs T Dent (USA) 61 36 53 - to resume Wednesday
M Zverev (GER) d [8] M Russell (USA) 64 36 75
L Mayer (ARG) d [Q] K Anderson (RSA) 76(7) 76(2)
E Gulbis (LAT) d [Q] R Harrison (USA) 64 76(5)
R Haase (NED) d [Q] R Kendrick (USA) 76(4) 76(0)
M Fish (USA) d C Rochus (BEL) 57 63 33 ret. (back)
J Nieminen (FIN) d P Lorenzi (ITA) 63 64
D Brands (GER) d [WC] S Grosjean (FRA) 36 63 62
S Giraldo (COL) d [WC] V Spadea (USA) 62 63

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Malaysian Open
Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Singles - Second Round
(1) Elena Dementieva (RUS) d. Bojana Jovanovski (SRB) 62 63
(4) Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) d. Alla Kudryavtseva (RUS) 67(4) 63 64
Anastasia Rodionova (AUS) d. Ekaterina Ivanova (RUS) 62 62
Ayumi Morita (JPN) d. (WC) Yan Zi (CHN) 62 61

Doubles - First Round
(2) Y.Chan/Zheng (TPE/CHN) d. (WC) Basuki/Sema (INA/JPN) 61 36 103
(3) Kudryavtseva/Voskoboeva (RUS/KAZ) d. Chang/Klepac (TPE/SLO) 76(5) 63
Dzehalevich/Malek (BLR/GER) d. C.Chan/Rybarikova (TPE/SVK) 75 62
Borwell/Kops-Jones (GBR/USA) d. Jurak/Marosi (CRO/HUN) 76(5) 62

“Today’s consumers want their entertainment in a different form. Of course, the pride of tennis are the grand-slam tournaments and we would never do anything to change that, but we are conscious of the need for tennis to bring in an entire new breed of followers — the youngster who doesn’t have the attention span to watch five-set matches.

“No idea can have legs unless the players commit to it and want it — without them it would never work. But our initial feedback has been very good. We are conscious of the fact that we do not want this event to be an extra burden on the players, so the desire is to find a new place for it in the calendar.”

--James Hird, chief marketer for gemba, a sports marketing agency that wants to create a World Cup for tennis perhaps as a replacement for Davis Cup

(Thanks, Karen)

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Andy Roddick of the USA plays a backhand as his partner James Blake of the USA watches on during their first round doubles match against Travis Parrott of the USA and Jaroslav Levinsky of the Czech Republic during day one of the Brisbane International 2010 at the Queensland Tennis Centre on January 3, 2010 in Brisbane, Australia.

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Breaking news from tennis.com:

For the first time in nearly a decade, the U.S. Davis Cup team will be without stalwarts Andy Roddick and James Blake when it travels to face powerful Serbia in a first-round tie in Belgrade in March. “It certainly appears to be the end of era,” U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe told TENNIS Thursday. “But the door will always remain open to both of those guys in the event they decide they want to play again.”

Roddick and Blake have both decided to leave Davis Cup off their 2010 schedules. McEnroe has yet to name the squad he plans to take to Serbia for the tie against a powerful Serbian team led by world No. 3 Novak Djokovic. The U.S. singles players most likely to be selected are Sam Querrey and John Isner, although that could change in the next few weeks, depending on the performance of the U.S. players in Australia. Mardy Fish is also high on McEnroe's list of Davis Cup candidates. Serbia will be heavily favored given that it will be contested on slow red clay.

It was only a matter of time, even for Mr. Davis Cup himself. Here's hoping both have a successful 2010.

Now let's see who's ready to step up. Isner has presented as a big-match player who loves the big stage. Won't help him in Serbia, but still. And is Querrey ready to lead?

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The winners of the 2009 Davis Cup tennis tournament Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer sign a shirt for Spain's Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero (not pictured) on December 7, 2009 at the Moncloa Palace in Madrid.

Spain d. Czech Republic 5-0



Rafael Nadal (ESP) d. Tomas Berdych (CZE) 75 60 62
David Ferrer (ESP) d. Radek Stepanek (CZE) 16 26 64 64 86
Feliciano Lopez/Fernando Verdasco (ESP) d. Tomas Berdych/Radek Stepanek (CZE) 76(7) 75 62
Rafael Nadal (ESP) d. Jan Hajek (CZE) 63 64
David Ferrer (ESP) d. Lukas Dlouhy (CZE) 64 62

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Spain's captian Albert Costa, center, celebrates with the rest of the Spanish team after beating Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych from Czech Republic in the doubles match of the Davis Cup tennis Final at Sant Jordi stadium in Barcelona, Spain, on Saturday, Dec. 5, 2009. Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez won 7-6, 7-5, 6-2 winning the third point to win the Davis Cup against Czech Republic.


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AP

David Ferrer of Spain, left, reacts whith his coach Albert Costa after winning the match against Radek Stepanek of Czech Republic during the second single match of the Davis Cup tennis Final match at Sant Jordi stadium in Barcelona, Spain, on Friday, Dec. 4, 2009. Ferrer won 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6.

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I missed all tennis today. My last grandmother died last night.

AP

Spain's Rafael Nadal attends the draw for the Davis Cup tennis final at Sant Jordi stadium in Barcelona, Spain, Friday, Dec. 3, 2009. Spain and the Czech Republic will play their Davis Cup final from Dec. 4 to Dec. 6 in Barcelona.