France to take on Argentina after Massive Victory against Spain
France and Argentina will face off in The Davis Cup semi-finals after the French team earned a 5-0 victory against Spain, the current defending champions. France is entering the semi-finals for the first time since 2004, and the team was able to claim their victory when Gilles Simon defeated Nicolas Almagro 76(4) 76(7) and Julien Benneteau defeated Feliciano Lopez 76(3) 64 in straight sets.
As the French team celebrated their momentous victory, Spain didn’t have much to cheer about as it was their first Davis Cup defeat since losing to the United States in the 2007 quarter-finals. To add insult to injury, their loss means that it is only the second time since 1981 that the defending champions have lost a tie 5-0.
France was able to start celebrating their victory by the end of the doubles set when Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra dominated over Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco, and after Gael Monfils and Michael Llodra helped their team with their victories in the opening two singles sets.
France, as the semi-final hosts, will have the home court advantage when they play Argentina, due to their massive fan following. If their past matches in Clermont-Ferrand can be used to as an example for the type of support French fans have for their team, Argentina better look out.
Despite the fact that France will be heading into the semi-finals never having lost to the Argentines in any of their four previous match-ups, a victory might not come as easily for the French team as Argentina head into the semi-finals having already defeated two strong teams; Sweden in the first round and Russia in the quarter-finals.
It’s also possible that the French team might have their work cut out for them in order to earn the same type of victory that they had against Spain when they play Argentina in September. The Argentines were also able to advance to the semi-finals after straight sets led by David Nalbandian, who was able to win in his fifth set against Mikhail Youzhny.
During the match, Nalbandian was able to claim a victory, not only over a player ranked sixth worldwide, but also a 14th ranked player, and end Russia’s 14-year unbeaten home Davis Cup record. Even though Nalbandian was barely able to practice due to injury, he was still able to dominate and win his match against Russia's Youzhny in under two and a half hours.
“He played well and it was a close match, especially in the first set. I had some break point opportunities in the second set, but he just played the key points better and was just better overall,” said Youzhny, who was not able to keep up with Nalbandian.
On the other hand, since both teams will be missing their star players, as Tsonga is out while he is recovering from a knee injury and Juan Martin del Potro is out with a right wrist surgery, the teams will be entering the semis without a their top tier line-up.
Argentina now heads to France for their next four matches, and it will take a lot of work for them to make it to the finals as they have never beaten the French.
“We are very happy for the team and for Argentina. We were complete underdogs coming into this tie and it was a difficult match, but somehow we managed to win the three points and are now in the semifinals,” shared Argentina’s Davis Cup captain, Tito Vazquez.
“It’s been a few years since we’ve been in the semifinals," said Guy Forget, the French team captain, “but we have a young group of players who have improved every year and I think now is their time and hopefully they can win the next round."
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