Del Potro Wins as Berdych Survives in Davis Cup

Led by Juan Martin Del Potro, Argentina continued its quest for its first ever Davis Cup title as they hosted the Czech Republic in their semifinal tie this weekend in Buenos Aires.

By Erik Gudris

(September 15th, 2012) Led by Juan Martin Del Potro , Argentina continued its quest for a first ever Davis Cup title as they hosted the Czech Republic in their semifinal tie this weekend in Buenos Aires.

Del Potro kicked off the first singles rubber against the always tricky Radek Stepanek. Making the transition from the hard courts of New York to the slow red clay inside the Estadio Parque Roca stadium proved to be a challenge for Del Potro early on as he and Stepanek traded lengthy games with each man holding off several break points each.

At 4-all, Del Potro broke Stepanek to love and then with a forehand winner, he served out the first set 6-4.

Stepanek managed to go up an early break in the second set, but Del Potro pulled even at 3-all and then later reeled off eight straight points to go up 5-3. Another forehand winner for Del Potro gave him the second set 6-4.

The third set proved easier for Del Potro as he earned an early break to jump out to a 4-1 lead. Stepanek forced Del Potro to serve for it at 5-2, but the big Argentine did so with ease as he clinched a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win to put Argentina up 1-0.

Del Potro cried tears of joy as the 14,000 plus on hand sang and celebrated his victory. Despite some earlier concerns expressed over Del Potro continuing to deal with pain in his left wrist, he is scheduled to compete in the reverse singles on Sunday if needed.

Berdych Survives Five Set Roller Coaster Against Monaco

The second singles rubber between Tomas Berdych and Juan Monaco at first seemed headed for a rout in favor of the recent U.S. Open semifinalist as Berdych rolled through the opening set 6-1. But it proved anything by easy for Berdych as the second set saw his form dip with the help of 17 unforced errors to give Monaco the set 6-4.

Monaco then rolled through the third set 6-1 and after he jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the fourth set, he appeared poised to give Argentina a 2-0 lead.

But Berdych stormed back helped by several backhand winners and successful forays up to net. Berdych went on to win nine straight games that allowed him to take the fourth set and cruise to a 4-0 lead in the fifth.

If the match appeared a foregone conclusion, the rowdy Argentinian crowd would have none of it as their constant singing and cheering inspired Monaco to break Berdych for 1-4 and then hold serve for 4-2. A nervy looking Berdych managed to hold on to his serve for 5-2 but the drama wasn't over yet as Monaco held serve for 5-3 and then with a series of near frantic points up at net, he broke Berdych at love for 4-5.

With the pressure mounting on both men, Monaco stepped up to the line to try and pull even with Berdych. But now it was Monaco's turn to feel the nerves while Berdych swung away to find himself up 0-40 on Monaco's serve. A final forehand from Berdych capped off a wild 6-1, 4-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory that helped even the tie at 1-all.