Nestor Upsets Kuerten in Davis Cup, Top Three Seeds into Semifinals at WTA Shanghai

World Group Semifinals:

Switzerland at Australia (tied 1-1)
Lleyton Hewitt pounds the Swiss Michel Kratochvil 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 as expected, but Mark Philippoussis can't rise up to meet Roger Federer, falling in straight 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(3) and the tie is even at 1-1. Will Swiss captain keep himself in the doubles line-up with Club Fed on Saturday against Todd Woodbridge-Wayne Arthurs?

Argentina at Spain (Spain leads 2-0)
World No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero embarrasses Gaston Gaudio 6-4, 6-0, 6-0 in the first singles, putting the pressure on Argentina's Mariano Zabaleta to avoid a 0-2 deficit. Zabaleta takes a 7-5, 6-2 leads on Carlos Moya, but can't find the closing cartridge for his PlayStation, falling meekly 6-2, 6-0, 6-1 in the final three sets. Spain will try and close the deal Saturday with Albert Costa and Alex Corretja in the doubles against Lucas Arnold and Agustin Calleri.

World Group Qualifying:

Belgium at Austria (Austria leads 2-0)
With Belgian star Xavier Malisse pulling at the last minute with injury, this became a cakewalk for the Austrians, with Stefan Koubek easing by Chris Rochus 6-2, 6-4, 6-1, and Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer stopping the comeback of Ollie Rochus 6-1, 7-6(4), 5-7, 2-6, 6-1. “I felt confident from the start on both my forehand and backhand,” Koubek said. “I soon found myself of a roll.” The Austrian doubles team of Knowles/Peya will try and put a cap in it Saturday against C.Rochus/Vliegen.

Brazil at Canada (tied 1-1)
After Brazil's Flavio Saretta handled No. 200+ ranked Fred Niemeyer in the opener in four sets, Daniel Nestor sent a shockwave through Calgary by outlasting former No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten 6-7(7), 7-6(0), 6-3, 6-7(7), 7-5. Now Canada, traditionally a doubles-playing nation, has a chance to go up 2-1 in the tie when Nestor/Niemeyer take on Kuerten and Andre Sa.

Czech Republic at Thailand (tied 1-1)
Thai No. 2 (no we're not ordering off the menu) Danai Udomchoke opened with a well-fought 6-2, 6-2, 7-6(1) loss to Czech No. 1 Jiri Novak, then top Thai stick Paradorn Srichaphan evened the tie at 1-1 with a commanding 7-6(2), 6-2, 7-6(4) win over Bohdan "Just Say No" Ulihrach. Today's all-important doubles point will be contested between Attapol Rithiwattanapong/Narathorn Srichaphan (with Paradorn, probably unwisely, saving himself for the singles), and the powerhouse time-tested team of Novak/David Rikl.

Belarus at Germany (tied 1-1)
Germany hit the lockeroom at the end of the day knowing they should have been leading this tie 2-0. In the opener, Germany's Tomas Behrend led Max Mirnyi 7-5, 6-2, before The Beast came back for the steal, winning the third set in a tiebreak 7-6(6), then the last two sets 6-2, 6-2. In the second singles, German No. 1 Rainer Schuettler was thoroughly tested by Vladimir Voltchkov, coming back from a 1-2 set deficit to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-4. "That was a very tough match for me, but the crowd was really amazing," Schuettler said. "Such a fantastic atmosphere you only see in Davis Cup. It was a fantastic feeling. Now we must give a good performance tomorrow to remain in the World Group." Today's doubles will be an all-star affair in Nicolas Kiefer/Schuettler vs. Mirnyi/Voltchkov.

Great Britain at Morocco (Morocco leads 2-0)
We hate to say we told you so, but red dirt makes the difference. Brit superstars Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski were humbled Friday before a vociferous Morrocan crowd, with the rockin' Moroccans taking a 2-0 lead into the Saturday doubles. Hicham Arazi led off with a masterful display of depth and angles in subduing Henman in straight sets 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(4), followed by Moroccan No. 1 Younes El Aynaoui milking the crowd for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 comeback win against Grinning Greg. "I was just mad," said El Aynaoui on his numerous arguments with the chair umpire. "I knew I had to win and that is why I made a slow start. Karim (Alami, Moroccan captain) told me, 'You have to be nervous to play better,' and that's what I did. It was a bit too much. You have Britain's flags everywhere. You cannot water the court. Are we playing in Morocco or are we playing in Britain? But we were not expecting to be 2-0 up. We knew we had a small chance so now, today we feel good. Now we feel we have a good chance." The Brits will try to avoid the shutout Saturday in the doubles with Henman/Rusedski going up against Arazi/El Aynaoui.

India at Netherlands (Netherlands leads 2-0)
This is a walk for the Dutchmen, as India is a zero without superstar Leander Paes (out with injury) in the singles and doubles. Nonetheless, Martin Verkerk struggled on the indoor carpet against Rohan Bopanna, eking out a 5-7, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(7), 12-10 win in nervous fashion, while Dutch No. 1 Sjeng Schalken followed with an easy 6-3, 6-1, 6-1 dismantling of 20-year-old Prakash Amritraj. "I’m in good form, that much is true, but every match is a new one and the form of last week doesn’t win you a match alone," said Schalken, coming off a title at the Brazil Open. "And this is the Davis Cup, which is a competition where strange things can happen as Martin’s [Verkerk] match showed. Still, it went well, although I like to get a bit more resistance from my opponent because that makes me play better. I don’t usually win with numbers like these because of my style of play. But when he [Amritraj] started pumping his fists in the second set it gave me an extra boost, and it showed.” The Dutchmen are favored to end it Saturday in the doubles, with John van Lottum and Verkerk against doubles wizard Mahesh Bhupathi and the untested Bopanna.

Romania at Ecuador (Romania leads 1-0)
Romanian top dog Victor Hanescu drew first blood Friday against Giovanni Lapentti, edging the Ecuadorian in a five-set slugfest 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-7(1), 6-4 to put the visitors out front.
In the second singles match, Romania's Razvan Sabau was serving at 5-4 in the fourth to force a fifth set against Nicolas Lapentti when the match was called because of darkness. The doubles will be contested between the Lapentti brothers and Mergea/Tecau for Romania.

U.S. at Slovak Republic (tied 1-1)
The Slovaks know the drill -- put A-Rod on the red clay, and good things can happen. Andy Roddick appeared out-of-sorts with the crowd, his serve, and the slippery red clay in his opening 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 loss to No. 2 Slovak Dominik "The Dominator" Hrbaty Friday. "Roddick was not playing very well," said Hrbaty, who sent A-Rod to his third consecutive Davis Cup singles loss. "He didn't play his best. But he's only a man of flesh and blood." Hrbaty sank to his knees after the victory, then broke into tears as he circled the clay court draped in the Slovak flag. "When I started to return his service, that was the key," Hrbaty said. "I hope we will show the Americans where the small nation of Slovakia is." In the second singles match, Mardy Fish, a late replacement by captain Pat McEnroe for James Blake, evened the tie for the U.S. with a comeback 4-6, 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 win over Karol Kucera. The match was suspended during the second set for 30 minutes due to a power outage in the new Slovak tennis center. In today's doubles, the Bryan brothers make their debut for the U.S. against the surprise team of Beck/Mertinak.

WTA REVIEW/PREVIEW
It was the seeded veterans versus the upstart youngsters in the quarterfinals at Shanghai Friday, and the brats were repelled. Advancing into the semis were (1)Dementieva (d. Maria "Orgasmo-Grunt" Sharapova, sending a message as to who's the top Russian), (2)Rubin (d. Barna), (3)Sugiyama (d. Dinara "Little Sis" Safina), and unseeded No. 78-ranked Akiko Morigami (d. Molik).

Today in the Shanghai semis, two players vie for an all-Japanese final in (1)Dementieva vs. (3)Sugiyama (Sugiyama leads head-to-head 2-1), and Morigami vs. (2)Rubin (first meeting).

NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES, AND BARBS
The Davis Cup server crashed around 10 a.m. Friday, how about upgrading the equipment fellas? You know everyone is going to be hitting the live score updates...Andy Roddick's loss Friday was his third consecutive in Davis Cup singles...This is not the first time Daniel Nestor has ousted a former No. 1 in Davis Cup play. Along with Kuerten, the Canadian has dispatched past No. 1s Stefan Edberg and Marcelo Rios.