Tennis: Djokovic’s injury hands Argentina victory

World number one disappointed as defending Davis Cup champions ousted.

PARIS: World number one Novak Djokovic was left dejected after his injury-forced retirement saw champions Serbia slump 3-2 to Argentina in the Davis Cup semi-final.

Djokovic admitted he had been carrying a back injury from the US Open as he retired while trailing 7-6, 3-0 in the reverse singles to Juan Martin Del Potro.

“I’m disappointed that the match ended this way,” he said. “I tried, but I wasn’t even 60 per cent ready, but we accepted that risk.”

Djokovic replaced Viktor Troicki in a bid to get the champions back into the tie which they trailed 2-1 overnight. It was only the third defeat in 67 matches this season for the Serb. In the dead rubber, Juan Monaco retired after the first set against Janko Tipsarevic, which the Serb had won 6-2.

Argentina will face the Nadal-inspired Spanish in the Davis Cup final.

Elsewhere, Switzerland return to the World Group after Stanislas Wawrinka sealed a 3-2 victory over Australia by wrapping up a five-set defeat of Lleyton Hewitt. The pair was level at two sets each with Wawrinka leading 5-3 in the decider when the referee decided it was too dark to continue. Play resumed yesterday with the Swiss breaking Hewitt in the first game back to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.

Wawrinka said he was delighted to be the one to hand his country victory, as opposed to the more celebrated Roger Federer.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 20^th,  2011.