Nadal leads defending champ Spain
BENIDORM, Spain -- Top-ranked Rafael Nadal routed Janko Tipsarevic 6-1, 6-0, 6-2 Saturday to give defending champion Spain a 2-0 lead in its best-of-five Davis Cup series with Serbia.
Nadal broke the 47th-ranked Serbian seven times on the outdoor clay surface, winning 10 straight games at one point, to put the Spaniards on course to clinching a second-round berth in an unprecedented single day.
Singles matches were canceled Friday because strong wind damaged the specially built tennis structure.
Doubles will be played Saturday afternoon with Spain's Tommy Robredo and Feliciano Lopez scheduled to face Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki.
Third-ranked Novak Djokovic had 68 unforced errors and lost to David Ferrer 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the opening singles match on Saturday.
"I want to play the best possible but it couldn't be today, I couldn't break his rhythm on this surface," said Djokovic, who played on clay for the first time since Roland Garros. "I made more errors than David, especially in the crucial moments."
Nadal made it 120 wins in his past 123 matches on clay, dominating Tipsarevic from the baseline.
Doubles win gives Romania a chance
Romania upset Russia in doubles to stay alive in the series in Sibiu, Romania.
Trailing by two sets, Marius Copil and Horia Tecau rallied to defeat Marat Safin and Dimitry Tusunov 4-6, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (4) 7-6 (5), 6-4.
The 25th-ranked Safin replaced Teimuraz Gabashvili, a tactic that didn't pay off. It was Romania's first Davis Cup win under new captain Andrei Pavel.
Russia won the Davis Cup in 2006, then lost the final to the United States the next year.
Romania, now trailing 2-1, reached the Davis Cup final in 1969, 1971 and 1972, losing to the U.S. on all three occasions. Along with Argentina and India, it shares the record for most appearances in the final without a victory.
Czechs win doubles, lead France
At Ostrava, Czech Republic, Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek defeated Richard Gasquet and Michael Llodra 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 to give the Czech Republic a 2-1 lead over France in Davis Cup play.
The Czechs replaced the doubles team of Jan Hernych and Lukas Dlouhy, opting to use their singles players.
"The doubles result is crucial in Davis Cup," Berdych said. "We played an excellent game."
The win puts the Czechs one win away from the Davis Cup quarterfinals. On Sunday in reverse singles, Stepanek will face Gilles Simon and Berdych takes on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
Croatia clinches berth in quarters
At Porec, Croatia, Mario Ancic and Marin Cilic beat Chile's Nicolas Massu and Paul Capdeville 6-3, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to give them an unassailable 3-0 lead in their tie on Saturday.
Croatia, who won the competition in 2005, will meet either the United States at home or Switzerland -- in which case a draw will decide the hosts as the two teams have not met before.
With Sunday's reverse singles now meaningless, Croatia captain Goran Prpic is likely to rest his first-choice players and give veteran Ivo Karlovic and teenager Roko Karanusic a chance.
Argentina eliminates Netherlands
In Bueno Aires, Argentina won the doubles for a 3-0 victory over the Netherlands to advance to the Davis Cup quarterfinals.
In their first doubles match together, Martin Vasallo Arguello and Lucas Arnold defeated Jesse Huta Galung and Rogier Wassen 6-4, 7-5, 6-3.
Argentina, heavy favorites even without top players Juan Martin del Potro and David Nalbandian, won two singles matches on Friday.
Germany takes lead
In Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Philipp Kohlschreiber and Nicolas Kiefer defeated Julian Knowle and Alexander Peya 6-3, 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-4 to give Germany a 2-1 lead over Austria.
Germany hasn't lost to Austria in four previous Davis Cup meetings, and needs just one win in Sunday's reverse singles to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
