Canada takes 2-1 lead over Serbia in Davis Cup semis

The Canadian doubles team of Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil topped the Serbian duo of Ilija Bozoljac and Nenad Zimonjic 67 (68), 64, 36, 76 (75), 108 here Saturday, moving their country within one win of its firstever Davis Cup final.

Nestor and Pospisil got their second service break of the match en route to capturing the second set but they did not create another breakpoint opportunity against the Serbians’ serve until the 17th game of the fifth set.

They made that chance count, however, and then served the match out in the very next game to give Canada a 21 lead heading into the reverse singles.

The doubles victory was the Canadian squad’s second straight fiveset victory in this Davis Cup tie, after bigserving Milos Raonic edged Janko Tipsarevic 57, 63, 36, 63, 108 in singles action on Friday.

Despite their 21 lead, Canada will have its work cut out as it attempts to win one of Sunday’s reverse singles on clay at the Belgrade Arena.

The 11thranked Raonic will square off in the fourth rubber against world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. If he fails to pull off the big upset, the tie will then come down to Pospisil, the world’s 41stranked player, against the 23rdranked Tipsarevic.

The Czech Republic advanced to the Davis Cup final for the second straight year earlier Saturday, finishing off a 30 victory in Prague over Argentina with a straightset win in Saturday’s doubles.

Radek Stepanek and Tomas Berdych, who improved their record as a Davis Cup doubles duo to 131, cruised to a 63, 64, 62 win over the Argentine tandem of Horacio Zeballos and Carlos Berlocq.

The Argentines, who had chances to break the Czechs’ serve in the seventh game of the match and take a 43 lead, paid dearly for their numerous unforced errors in surrendering the first set.

In the sixth game of that initial set, Stepanek, who underwent spinal surgery early this year, felt discomfort in his back but managed to battle through the pain and come up with a crucial secondserve ace.

The Argentines then proceeded to smooth the path for their opponents with several easy forehands missed and lots of netted volleys off the racquet of Berlocq.

The Czechs merely needed to hold on to their service games and wait for mistakes from the Argentines to take the match in just over two hours.

In Saturday action in the World Group Playoffs, Spain, a fivetime Davis Cup champion, secured a berth in next year’s World Group by finishing off a 30 victory in Madrid over Ukraine in Saturday’s doubles.

World No. 2 Rafael Nadal, who was battling fatigue and jet lag after winning his second U.S. Open title on Monday, and partner Marc Lopez clinched the tie by defeating Denys Molchanov and Sergiy Stakhovsky 62, 67 (68), 63, 64.