Edmund takes Britain into Davis Cup semi against Argentina

PARIS: Kyle Edmund won his second singles rubber of the weekend to steer Davis Cup champions Great Britain past Serbia on Sunday and into a mouthwatering semi-final clash against Argentina.
Edmund, ranked at 67 in the world, justified his position as his country's top player in the absence of Wimbledon champion Andy Murray to see off Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5) on the back of 39 winners for an unbeatable 3-1 lead.
"You want to win for your country. When you know what is at stake – I'm so pleased that I've won," said Edmund.
Britain go on to host Argentina in September after the South Americans reached the semi-finals with a 3-1 win over Italy in Pesaro.
Argentina have won the last three Davis Cup meetings between the two countries in 1981, 1989 and 2008 while Britain's only win was in 1928 in the sleepy seaside town of Torquay.
Edmund had defeated Janko Tipsarevic on Friday in the opening singles as the hosts, Davis Cup champions in 2010, paid heavily for not being able to call upon Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki, comfortably their top two players.
Lajovic levelled the tie with a win over James Ward before Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot defeated Nenad Zimonjic and Filip Krajinovic in the doubles.
Argentina, who have never won the Davis Cup, saw Federico Delbonis defeat recently-married Fabio Fognini 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 on Sunday.
Delbonis, the world number 40, had also pocketed the first point on Friday by beating Andreas Seppi, the world 52, before Fognini saw off Juan Monaco in straight sets to level the quarter-final.
Juan Martin Del Potro, back in the Argentina team for the first time in four years, then teamed with Guido Pella to defeat Fognini and Paolo Lorenzi in the doubles.
Argentina have now made the semi-finals 11 times in the last 15 years.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga sent France into the last-four after beating Jiri Vesely of the Czech Republic to hand his team an unassailable 3-1 lead in Trinec.
World number 10 Tsonga beat 50th-ranked Vesely 4-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4, 7-5 in three hours and 28 minutes as France won on Czech soil for the first time in 90 years.
"With the experience I have, I knew that even despite a poor start it's not over, it goes on, the rubber is long," Tsonga told reporters.
"But I really had to work hard to win today."
In their quest for a first Davis Cup title since 2001, France will now face either the United States or Croatia in the semi-finals.
Former US Open champion Marin Cilic kept Croatia alive with a three-set win over John Isner in Portland, Oregon.
Cilic's 7-6 (11/9), 6-3, 6-4 victory pulled Croatia level at 2-2 to set the stage for a decisive duel between American Jack Sock and Croatian Borna Coric. — AFP