London: Janko Tipsarevic put champion Serbia into a second consecutive Davis Cup World Group semi-final Sunday, wrapping up the weekend victory over Sweden with an unbeatable 3-1 scoreline.
Tipsarevic, substituting for injured Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic, secured the Serbs an autumn home tie against Argentina with a defeat of Davis debutant Michael Ryderstedt 6-2, 7-5, 6-3.
The holders will play Argentina from September 16-18 at a Serbian venue to be chosen after the South Americans defeated Kazakhstan 5-0.
Tipsarevic claimed the deciding point for Serbia for a sixth time after putting them through to the finals last year. The semi-final will be the sixth home tie for the Serbs from the past eight.
The 27-year-old flung his used sweatbands and shirt into a crowd of screaming supporters at the indoor venue in celebration.
The final dead rubber was set to pit Swedish doubles specialist Robert Lindstedt against Viktor Troicki, another member of the Serbian side that made history with a finals defeat of France last December in Belgrade.
The Argentines, with Juan Del Potro needed for only one opening singles rubber and David Nalbandian missing with injury, will be playing their fifth semi-final from the past seven editions.
France finished off a tie they had clinched on Saturday, ending 4-1 over Germany in Stuttgart.
Philipp Petzschner got a consolation point for the home side at the Weissenhof club as he beat Michael Llodra 6-3, 6-4.
Dead rubber
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga won the second dead rubber against Philipp Kohlschreibr 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-5) just as thunder sounded in the background.
"I knew the tie was going to be close and difficult, even though we've won by Saturday night — all the matches were really tight, and I'm really glad the French players took it so seriously and played with a lot of heart," France captain Guy Forget told reporters.
In Austin, Texas, the 32-time champions United States were fighting for survival, trailing Spain 2-1. With Rafael Nadal resting after Wimbledon, the Americans could still not dominate on a fast hardcourt of their choosing, with the doubles point their only success so far of a weekend fast going wrong after singles losses for Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish.
In the semi-finals, which will take place in September, France will face either Spain or the United States.
After losing both singles matches on Friday, the Americans kept themselves in the tie when twins Bob and Mike Bryan won the doubles, following up their Wimbledon success by beating the Spanish combination of Marcel Granollers and Fernando Verdasco 6-7 6-4 6-4 6-4.
In the only tie to feature two nations who have never won the team event, Argentina have already thumped Kazakhstan 5-0, with Juan Monaco and Juan Ignacio Chela finishing off the whitewash with wins in the reverse singles on Saturday.
The tie in Buenos Aires was being held from Thursday to Saturday due to municipal elections in Argentina yesterday.
RESULTS
Davis Cup quarter-finals:
Argentina beat Kazakhstan 5-0
Spain lead US 2-1
France beat Germany 3-0
Serbia lead Sweden 2-1.
