Davis Cup 2011: Novak Djokovic Withdraws, Argentina To Face Spain

Serbian newspaper Večernjih novosti reports that the injury Novak Djokovic suffered Sunday is a tear to the intercostal muscle between his ribs, an injury that will force him out of action for at least four weeks.

Djokovic was forced to retire from his Davis Cup Semifinal match Sunday against Juan Martin del Potro in the second set, trailing 6-7, 0-3. On what would be the final point of the match, Djokovic hit a forehand and then crumpled to the floor of Belgrade Arena.

(h/t @anna_tennisfan)

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Both Argentina and Spain were able to win both of their Day 1 matches in their semifinal ties against Serbia and France on Friday, but the two trailing sides are now back in it. France defeated Spain in a doubles match in Round 3 to cut the series deficit to 2-1, while Serbia did the same to Spain, also in doubles.

Nenad Zimonjic and Viktor Troicki defeated Juan Ignacio Chela and Juan Monaco in straight sets, 7-6(4) 6-4 6-2, but the Argentinians made it tough in the first two. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Michael Llodra had a much easier time with Fernando Verdasco and Feliciano Lopez, winning 6-1, 6-2, 6-0.

Spain took a 2-0 lead in its best-of-five series with France in the 2011 Davis Cup semifinal behind straight set victories from Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer. With a victory in the doubles match on Saturday, Spain would advance to the Davis Cup finals in December to face either Serbia or Argentina. The Argentinians currently hold a 1-0 lead in their series.

Nadal took down Richard Gasquet in commanding fashion, recording a 6-3, 6-0, 6-1 victory over the Frenchman. Gasquet failed to record a single point during the second set, and did not break Nadal’s serve once during the match. Nadal notched seven break points to improve to 10-0 all time against Gasquet.

On the surface, the Davis Cup looks a bit convoluted and tough to understand. The tournament is organized into five different groups - the World Group and Groups I-IV - and all five of those groups have sub-groupings. For the casual fan, only the World Group really matters, so it’s probably best to keep the schedule and format explanation brief when it comes to the other parts of the competition.

The big competition, the one that tennis fans and announcers refer to as the “Davis Cup Semifinals”, takes place in the World Group this weekend. The World Group is the part of the competition that determines the Davis Cup champion. 16 teams contest the World Group in a single elimination format. The eight teams that win in the Round of 16 automatically qualify for the next season’s World Group, while the eight losers have to play eight teams that advance from Group I - a second division, of sorts - for the right to play in the World Group the following season.