Defending Champs Spain Bounced, U.S. in Trouble; Davenport Wins Dubai

Jankovic benefited from a retirement by Serena Williams in the semifinals, with the American quitting in the second set with a shoulder injury.

"I want to congratulate Lindsay for playing an unbelievable game," Jankovic said. "I couldn't do anything. She kind of destroyed me in the end."

In the doubles final, top-seeded Virginia Ruano Pascual and Paola Suarez defeated Aussie Open champs Svetlana Kuznetsova and Alicia Molik 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-1 for their first title of the year.

Davis Cup World Group Results

Spain at Slovak Republic (Slovaks win 3-0)
Surface: Hard indoors

Karol Beck/Michal Mertinak (SVK) d. Al Costa/Rafael Nadal (ESP) 7-6(3), 6-4, 7-6(8)

Dancing in the streets as the Slovaks ambush the defending champion Spaniards, with Beck and the virtual unknown Mertinak delivering the final blow. The missing Carlos Moya, the injured Juan Carlos Ferrero and Tommy Robredo, and Spanish captain Jordi Arrese's decision to keep the hot-handed Nadal out of the opening-day singles combine to aid the upset.

"The surface is not an excuse for us," Arrese said. "Of course it is disappointing to lose in the first round especially if you are a titleholder. But that is sport. Now we have to put our forces together to stay in the World Group (in the qualifying round)."
 
Netherlands at Switzerland (Dutch lead 2-1)
Surface: Hard indoors

Yves Allegro and George Bastl keep the Roger Federer-less Swiss in the tie with a memorable comeback from 0-2 sets down, saving three match points to defeat Dutchmen Dennis van Scheppingen (a late replacement for the ailing "Everybody Loves" Raemon Sluiter) and Peter "Nuclear" Wessels 5-7, 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-5, 9-7.

Scheduled for Sunday is Dutch veteran Sjeng Schalken looking to end it versus Swiss hope Stanislas Wawrinka, and Wessels versus Marco "Chud" Chiudinelli.

Austria at Australia (Australia wins 3-0)
Surface: Grass

Todd Woodbridge and Wayne Arthurs clinch for the Aussies after a struggle with wind and rain delays, defeating Austria's Jurgen "Tuna" Melzer and Julian Knowle 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5.

Czech Republic at Argentina (Gauchos win 3-0)
Surface: Clay outdoors

David Nalbandian and Guillermo Canas clinch for Argentina in the doubles, defeating Czechs Tomas Zib and Jan Hernych, who struggled in the heat on the slow red dirt 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

Chile at Russia (Russia leads 2-1)
Surface: Carpet indoors

Marat Safin and Mikhail Youzhny put Russia in the lead, substituting for the previously-announced team of Nikolay Davydenko and Igor Andreev, pummeling Fernando "Gonzo" Gonzalez and Adrian Garcia 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 for the doubles point.

"I was planning to bring in Nikolay both in Friday's singles match against Gonzalez and today's doubles clash but his injury forced me to use Youzhny in both matches," revealed Russian captain Shamil Tarpishchev. "However, everything is going to plan so far and I believe we will qualify on Sunday."

Sunday's scheduled line-up is Safin vs. Gonzalez, and Youzhny vs. Garcia.

Sweden at France (France leads 2-1)
Surface: Clay indoors

The home team gained the advantage Saturday when France's Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra defeated Jonas Bjorkman and Simon Aspelin of Sweden 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-4 to put the French up 2-1. Joachim "The Jackhammer" Johansson will try and keep Sweden in it Sunday as the first scheduled match against Sebastien Grosjean, with the second match featuring Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu versus Thomas Johansson.

Belarus at Romania (Belarus leads 2-1)
Surface: Clay indoors

Max "The Beast" Mirnyi and Vladimir "The Vladiator" Voltchkov set Belarus up for the red-clay upset Saturday, defeating Romania's Andrei Pavel and Gabriel Trifu 7-6(3), 6-3, 6-4 to give Belarus a 2-1 lead. Scheduled for the deciding Sunday singles are Romania's Victor Hanescu vs. The Vladiator, and Pavel vs. The Beast.

Croatia at USA (Croatia leads 2-1)
Surface: Hard outdoors

Croats Mario "Baby Goran" Ancic and Ivan Ljubicic end the Bryan brothers perfect Davis Cup doubles record with a 3-6, 7-6(8), 6-4, 6-4 win. The homecourt U.S., with its back against the wall, will need to win two on Sunday when Andy Roddick faces Ljubicic, and in the potential decider, Andre Agassi squares off against Baby Goran.

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TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Argentina's Davis Cup win means they next travel to Australia to play on grass, with perhaps a repeat of the fireworks at the Aussie Open between Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Ignacio "The Spitter" Chela and David Nalbandian: "It will be very difficult against Australia. They will be on their usual surface. The only advantage we will have is that we will play after the grasscourt season," Argentine captain Alberto Mancini said...Spain is saying they were screwed in their first-round Davis Cup loss to the Slovak Republic, with the Slovaks putting them on a fast indoor court that was uneven, according to the Spaniards: "We want to make sure that the rules are changed so that situations like this don't occur again and we will be working to change them immediately," said Spanish Tennis Federation President Pedro Munoz. "This sort of thing damages the Davis Cup, the spectacle and the fans. We all know that this was irregular." As it's irregular when teams travel to Spain to play on the slowest-of-slow red clay mudbogs? Quit yer cryin', suck it up...Serena Williams used her clout to get the WTA Tour to stop using the Tretorn balls deployed in Dubai and at the WTA Championships, the same balls that Serena says forced her to retire this week in the Dubai semifinals with an arm injury: "All the players had a big debate about it so I'm not the only one suffering. We agreed not to use these balls after the Championships any more...I was, like, there was no way we're going to use these balls."...Andre Agassi on his opening-day performance for the U.S. Davis Cup team, getting his ass handed to him by the en-fuego Ivan Ljubicic: "I got what I deserved out there. It was a painful performance. I was pretty uncomfortable from the get-go...I was useless, to be quite honest, as far as being clear on what was going on out there. On top of it, Ljubicic is playing good. I needed that match to continue for another hour before I would have settled in, and that would have required me to win the second set, then maybe things would have shaped up a little bit."...Britain took a surprising 2-1 lead in their zonal tie against Israel when rookies Andrew Murray and David Sherwood beat the experienced Israelis Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram 6-4, 7-6(5), 2-6, 7-6(5)...Andy Roddick on playing the Ugly American against Mario Ancic -- pointing, pumping his fist, strutting and slinging obscenities at the Croatian: "I just had to let it go. A couple of times in the past six months I've kept it in a little, even tried to make the adjustment. But that's not who I am. Especially in Davis Cup, it's a little more accepted to lose your mind."...Andy Roddick will appear on the Jay Leno Show on Monday.