Novak Djokovic's first outing since he won the Wimbledon crown ended in disappointment when he and Nenad Zimonjic failed to earn Davis Cup champion Serbia the winning point in its quarterfinal tie against Sweden Saturday. Djokovic, who sat out Friday's action with a knee niggle, and Zimonjic stumbled to a 6-4, 7-6, 7-5 defeat by Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt in Halmstad. “I expected myself to adjust a little bit better in the rhythm of the return. One of my main weapons wasn't working well as I was missing a lot of returns but that's because of their serves as well, which were great,” said Djokovic. Serbia will now hope Djokovic will be back in action on Sunday as it needs to win one of the two reverse singles if it is to keep alive its chances of defending its title. In Stuttgart, France secured its passage into the last four when Michael Llodra and Jo Wilfried Tsonga eased past Germany's Christopher Kas and Philipp Petzschner 7-6, 6-4, 6-4 to give the nine-time champion an unbeatable 3-0 lead. In the semifinals, which will take place in September, France will face either Spain or the United States. Despite the absence of Rafa Nadal, Spain appear to be in pole position to secure its place in the last four as it holds a 2-0 lead in the tie in Texas. In the only tie to feature two nations who have never won the team event, Argentina has already thumped Kazakhstan 5-0, with Juan Monaco and Juan Ignacio Chela finishing off the whitewash with wins in the reverse singles Saturday. The tie in Buenos Aires was being held from Thursday to Saturday due to municipal elections in Argentina Sunday.
