Re: [DC] Australia vs. Argentina
Argentina surges ahead in Sydney
http://www.daviscup.com/news/matchreport.asp?id=13308
Argentina’s David Nalbandian and Mariano Puerta scored a
stunning straight sets victory over the first-time pairing
of Wayne Arthurs and Lleyton Hewitt of Australia to give
their country an important 2-1 lead in the Davis Cup by BNP
Paribas quarterfinal tie in Sydney.
A crisp and powerful forehand volley winner from Puerta
which split the Australians on match point gave Argentina
the win 76(6) 64 63 in just one hour 46 minutes at the
Sydney International Tennis Centre.
"It's amazing, two points in one day," said Nalbandian, who
had earlier beaten Arthurs in their suspended singles match
from the previous day. "It's perfect for the team. I played
very good in the last set of the singles and then with
Mariano in the doubles we play also very good, almost
perfect.
"He was very confident and very motivated. It was an
incredible match. It gives a lot of confidence with these
two points. We just need to win one more match. Doesn't
matter if it is me or Guillermo (Coria). We just come here
to try and win three points. We get two today, so we just
need one. Doesn't matter who."
The first set of the doubles was incredibly tight. The
Australians broke Nalbandian in the fourth game but with
Hewitt serving to try and take a 5-2 lead, the Argentines
struck back and broke the world number two to love.
Arthurs and Hewitt gained a min-break in the tiebreak when
Nalbandian sent a ball long and the Aussies then made it
5-3, but a forehand winner from Nalbandian split Arthurs
and Hewitt and cancelled out the mini-break. Argentina then
had a set point at 6-5 but – having leveled at 6-6 –
Hewitt missed the next two points to give the visitors the
tiebreak and the first set.
"In doubles there are only a few points here and there that
can change the outcome of the match," Hewitt said
afterwards. "Obviously the first set would have been nice
to get under our belts. We felt like we were the better
team … but things didn't quite go our way in the tiebreak.
We had opportunities to break in the third set and we
didn't take those chances when we needed to. Even when we
were down we felt if we could get the third set, there
would be some momentum."
The second set went with serve, Argentina having the
advantage of serving first. In the tenth, with Hewitt
serving to level at 5-5, Nalbandian and Puerta jumped on a
couple of loose returns and soon earned a set point. With
both Argentines at the net Nalbandian got a ball that was
right in his strike range and he cracked a backhand volley
winner through the middle of the Australians. It gave
Argentina a big lead and a huge amount of confidence.
The longer the match went the better the Argentines looked.
Nalbandian opened the third set and when he saved a break
point there was no stopping he and Puerta as they exploited
the Aussies’ inexperience as a tandem. The set went with
serve but this time it was Arthurs who dropped serve when
trying to level the set at 4-4.
Nalbandian was on fire as he served for the match. Two of
the first three points were aces. The point that brought up
match point was a perfect smash, and then it was all over
with that precise volley off the strings of Puerta's
racquet.
"We were hoping to be up and leading after the second day
but that's not to be," said Australian captain John
Fitzgerald. "We have to regroup and get ourselves up for
the reverse singles. Credit is due (to Argentina), they
played extremely well in the doubles ... very well."
The work is well and truly cut out for Australia going into
the final day's reverse singles rubbers. Hewitt and
Nalbandian are first up, with Arthurs and Coria to follow.
"I always look forward to the big occasion and if Lleyton
gets over the line then I'm going to be ready for that
fifth rubber," said Arthurs. "The momentum has shifted with
us losing today and if Lleyton can win that first match
then the momentum will shift back to our side. It's going
to be a big day."
Only five times in their Davis Cup history has Australia
come back from 1-2 to win. The last time was in the first
round against Switzerland in Zurich in 2000.
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