Ferrer, Almagro lead singles sweep in Davis Cup semis

GIJON, Spain — David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro gave Spain a commanding 2-0 lead over the United States in their Davis Cup semifinal on Friday after doggedly defending their near-perfect clay court records in the competition.

Ferrer overcame a sluggish start to put the hosts ahead in the best-of-five series with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4 win over Sam Querrey. Almagro then overcame John Isner's constant fightbacks in a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory.

The duo improved to 23-1 on clay in Davis Cup action.

Almagro overcame 25 aces from Isner, who saved three match points before hitting a forehand long to leave the defending champions one point away from their fourth final in five years.

The U.S. has only rallied back to win from a 0-2 deficit once in 38 ties — in 1934 against Australia. Since the start of World Group play, Spain is 37-0 after winning both the opening singles.

"After the effort the Americans showed today, we know that final point won't be easy," Spain captain Alex Corretja said. "They've shown they've come here to give everything."

The U.S. has to win Saturday's doubles to stay alive, and will feel confident about its chances with American brothers Mike and Bob Bryan facing Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez.

The Bryan twins are 4-0 when the U.S. is facing a 2-0 deficit, and are 5-0 against Spain.

"Nothing's impossible," U.S. captain Jim Courier said. "There's no clock in tennis and it always comes down to who wins the last point."

Even without Rafael Nadal in the lineup, Ferrer and Almagro showed they could lead Spain to victory.

While Querrey wasted nine break opportunities in the fourth set of his match to lose, Isner took advantage of his lone one in the fourth set of his match to stretch it to a fifth and deciding frame.

As the light quickly faded, neither player relented on serve. Isner fired another ace to save a 16th break point before three of his 124 errors on the day undid him in the final game.

Isner netted on consecutive points to give Almagro his last match point, which the plucky Spaniard converted when Isner's forehand sailed long.

"Those were pretty bad errors, they were simple shots especially from volleys. I should have made all of them," Isner said.

"Maybe fatigue played a part, but I did such a good job of hanging in there the whole fourth set and I sort of gave it away in that last set."

Ferrer, who played in the U.S. Open semifinals on Sunday, started well with a break but eventually surrendered his only two service games of the match for the defending champions to trail after the first set.

Querrey, returning to Davis Cup play for the first time since 2010, failed to maintain his early rhythm and was broken six times by the fifth-ranked Ferrer, whose ability to hold his serve secured a hard-fought victory by saving nine break points in the fourth set to hold off a late charge from his opponent.

"It's never easy to adapt from hard court to clay, and with only three to four days even less," said Ferrer, who is 15-0 on clay in the competition. "I didn't feel too bad but I didn't play perfect tennis either."

Querrey had taken a set off Nadal in his Davis Cup debut four years ago but couldn't hold his early momentum nor secure a late break at the purpose-built Hermanos Castros Park venue, where the wind gusted off the Bay of Biscay and neither player served particularly well to combine for 12 double faults.

"On a couple of them I should have been more aggressive but he played good points," said the 26th-ranked Querrey, who hit 70 unforced errors while failing to convert 12 break chances.

"I feel if I get one of those breaks it could be a different game."

Isner had beaten Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in U.S. away wins at Switzerland and France to come into the Asturian city with a 4-0 record on clay in the competition this season. But the 206-cm American, who is famous for having played the longest match in tennis history, dropped to 0-3 in five-set Davis Cup matches.

Reverse singles are scheduled for Sunday.

The winner plays either Argentina or the Czech Republic in November's final.

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Djokovic, Ferrer make semis

NEW YORK — Locked in a taut, thrill-a-minute second set, Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro headed to a tiebreaker and produced a 20-stroke masterpiece of a point befitting a pair of past U.S. Open champions.

More than a dozen shots in, defending champion Djokovic drew del Potro forward with a drop shot, then tossed up a lob. Del Potro, the 2009 champion, sprinted with his back to the court, got to the ball and lofted a lob the other way. Djokovic slammed an overhead. Del Potro somehow kept the ball in play. Djokovic laced a drop shot. Again, del Potro got there, attempting another lob. It landed long.

A point from a two-set lead, Djokovic threw his head back, roared "Come on!" and pumped his arms. Del Potro leaned his elbows atop the net, hunched over and rested his head on his arms.

Close and compelling as their quarterfinal was, it might as well have been over right then and there. Djokovic's down-the-line backhand winner seconds later ended the tiebreaker and gave him a commanding lead on the way to a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory over del Potro on Thursday night that put the Serb in his 10th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal.

"We played some incredible rallies and incredible points," the second-seeded Djokovic said. "It's always entertaining, always so much fun, playing in these night sessions."

Djokovic will face fourth-seeded David Ferrer on Saturday, with a spot in Sunday's final at stake. Ferrer advanced to his fourth career major semifinal by using his own version of leg-churning, ball-chasing tennis to outlast eighth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4) in 4 hours, 31 minutes.

Olympic champion Andy Murray and 2010 Wimbledon runnerup Tomas Berdych — who eliminated 17-time major champion Roger Federer — earned their semifinal berths Wednesday.

Ferrer needed a mid-match pedicure of sorts, seemed bothered when Tipsarevic got a mid-game medical timeout and, worst of all, was down 4-1 in the fifth set.

In the end, though, the indefatigable Spaniard was barely better, as he usually is when matches go the distance. He has won four consecutive five-setters and is 17-9 overall.

"I don't have words," said Ferrer, who reached the semifinals at the French Open in June. "It was a very emotional match."

When it ended on Tipsarevic's backhand into the net, Ferrer raised his arms, then knelt near the baseline. The weary foes met at the net for a hug.

"David is a fighter. He is one of the biggest competitors we have in the game. People . . . overlook him," Djokovic said. "You need to earn your points against him."

Hmmmm.

Sound familiar?

Del Potro might use those exact words to describe Djokovic.

Under the lights at night in Arthur Ashe Stadium, the showcase matchup of Djokovic's squeaky-sneaker defense, reflex returns and line-catching groundstrokes against the seventh-seeded del Potro's big-as-can-be forehands topping 160 kph lasted a little more than three hours.

It was tremendously good every step of the way, and the second set alone was 84 minutes long — 11 minutes more than Djokovic's entire first-round match last week.

"Crucial," Djokovic said about Thursday's second set. "It could have gone either way."

Djokovic and del Potro, a 200-cm Argentine, each was left smacking himself in the head with a racket after an ugly mistake — the shot-making was so high-caliber that any miscue really stood out. The full house responded more than once with standing ovations, but the loudest and longest came before the tiebreaker.

These are the only two men who have managed to beat Federer and Rafael Nadal, owner of 11 major trophies, in the course of a single Grand Slam tournament. Djokovic and del Potro each did it while on the way to the championship at Flushing Meadows.

In the three years since del Potro's triumph, though, he hasn't reached another major final.

He was sidelined for most of the 2010 season — and missed out on a chance to defend his U.S. Open title — because of a right wrist injury that required surgery. He's had problems with his left wrist recently, limiting the effectiveness of his two-fisted backhand.

Still, he beat Djokovic for the bronze medal at the London Olympics last month and gave the guy all he could handle throughout the second set.

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