Serbia beats Sweden in Davis Cup

NIS, Serbia (AP)

Janko Tipsarevic beat Michael Ryderstedt of Sweden in straight sets Sunday to send Serbia to the Davis Cup quarterfinals against the Czech Republic.

Tipsarevic won 6-2, 7-6 (5), 7-5 to give Serbia an unassailable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five series on an indoor hard court in the central Serbian town of Nis. In the last match, Serbia's Dusan Lajovic beat Filip Prpic 6-4, 6-4 for the final 4-1 score.

The Serbians won the two opening singles matches, but Swedes Johan Brunstrom and Robert Lindstedt beat Tipsarevic and Nenad Zimonjic in Saturday's doubles.

DAVIS CUP 2012

 

World Group Quarterfinals
April 6-8

• United States 3, France 2
• Spain 4, Austria 1
• Czech Republic 4, Serbia 1
• Argentina 4, Croatia 1

Serbia played without top-ranked Novak Djokovic, who is resting after winning the Australian Open.

Spain 5, Kazakhstan 0

Nicolas Almagro and Marcel Granollers won Sunday's reverse singles matches to complete a 5-0 sweep for defending Davis Cup champion Spain against Kazakhstan in their first-round series.

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.

Both teams made changes after Spain secured the series victory in Saturday's doubles. Korolev replaced Mikhail Kukushkin while Granollers stepped in for Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Spain will host Austria in the quarterfinals on April 6-8, while Kazakhstan goes into September's playoff to keep its place in the World Group.

Austria 3, Russia 2

Jurgen Melzer eased past Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia 6-2, 6-4, 6-1 Sunday to help Austria reach the quarterfinals of the Davis Cup for the first time since 1995.

Melzer's victory gave Austria an insurmountable 3-1 lead and set up a quarterfinal against defending champion Spain in April. Russia's Igor Kunitsyn defeated Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4) in the meaningless final singles match, leaving Austria with a 3-2 victory

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Two-time champion Russia lost its opening series for a second straight year.

On Friday, Melzer won Austria's first point against Igor Kunitsyn and Bogolomov made his Davis Cup debut but lost to Andreas Haider-Maurer. Russia won Saturday's doubles.

Haider-Maurer and Kunitsyn were to play the meaningless final singles match later Sunday.

Argentina 4, Germany 1

Cedrik-Marcel Stebe salvaged some pride for Germany by beating Eduardo Schwank 7-6 (1), 7-5 in a consolation win against Argentina in the first round of the Davis Cup on Sunday.

Argentina won the best-of-five series 4-1 and will play Croatia in the quarterfinals in April. Germany faces a playoff to stay in the World Group.

Earlier Sunday, Juan Ignacio Chela defeated Florian Mayer 7-5, 7-5 to stretch Argentina's lead to 4-0.

''We did great here and it's great to reach the quarterfinals,'' Chela said. ''It's not easy for us to come here in February. We are playing in South America normally at this time. We had a long trip here. But we arrived fine and confident.''

The visitors clinched their place in the quarters on Saturday, when Schwank and David Nalbandian rallied from two sets down to beat Tommy Haas and Philipp Petzschner 3-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 to decide the series.

''Argentina were the strong team we expected and they displayed why they are number three in the world,'' Germany captain Patrik Kuhnen said.

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Argentina was the runner-up last year to Spain and is seeking its first title after losing four finals. Germany has won three titles.

Czech Republic 4, Italy 1

Simone Bolelli defeated substitute Frantisek Cermak 6-4, 6-4 for Italy's lone consolation win against the Czech Republic in the first round of the Davis Cup on Sunday.

The Czechs won the best-of-five series 4-1 and will host Serbia in the quarterfinals in April. Italy needs to win a playoff to stay in the World Group.

The Czechs already earned a spot in the quarters following their victories in the opening singles and the doubles and rested their top players - Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek in the reverse singles.

Earlier Sunday, Lukas Rosol came from a set down to upset Andreas Seppi for the Czech Republic to stretch its lead to 4-0.

Berdych and Stepanek defeated Daniele Braccialli and Potito Starace 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in Saturday's doubles.