Rafael Nadal buried the disappointment of his US Open loss to put Spain within reach of the Davis Cup final Friday, but champion Serbia was facing elimination after an injury blow ruled out world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Nadal thrashed Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-0, 6-1 before David Ferrer defeated Gilles Simon 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 at the Cordoba bullring as Spain led France 2-0 in their semifinal. In Belgrade, where Serbia was facing Argentina, Djokovic was pulled from his scheduled clash against David Nalbandian, blaming fatigue and a back injury he suffered in the brutal final in New York. Nalbandian defeated Victor Troicki, who replaced Djokovic, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 before former US Open winner Juan Martin Del Potro eased past Janko Tipsarevic 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, his third career win over the Serb, as the South Americans also led 2-0. In the World Group play-offs, where the winners will feature in the elite pool in 2012, Roger Federer came back to see off an inspired Lleyton Hewitt as Switzerland and Australia were 1-1 at the end of the first day in Sydney. Playing on grass at the Royal Sydney Golf Club, 18-year-old Bernard Tomic gave the home side an early lead when he beat Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. Federer then dug deep to see off former fellow world number one Hewitt 5-7, 7-6 (7/5), 6-2, 6-3. In other ties, the Czech Republic were 2-0 ahead of Romania, with Japan 2-0 up on India and Italy 2-0 to the good against Chile. Russia against Brazil, Croatia versus South Africa and Austria and Belgium were all level at 1-1. Safarova ousted in Canada Andrea Hlavackova ousted second-seeded Czech comaptriot Lucie Safarova 7-6 (7-1), 7-5 Thursday to reach her first career WTA quarterfinal at the $220,000 Quebec City Challenge. Hlavackova, ranked 103rd, booked a last-eight date with another Czech seed, 75th-ranked sixth seed Barbora Zahlavova Strycova, who ousted 104th-ranked Mirjana Lucic of Croatia 2-6, 6-1, 6-3. New Zealand's Marina Erakovic upset US seventh seed Irina Falconi 6-3, 2-6, 6-2. Erakovic advanced to a Friday meeting with the winner of a later match between Slovakian top seed Daniela Hantuchova and Hungary's Melinda Czink. Pervak-Birnerova final In Uzbekistan, top-seeded Ksenia Pervak won in straight sets Friday to set up a Tashkent Open final against Eva Birnerova, who advanced after her opponent retired. Pervak defeated Urszula Radwanska 6-2, 6-4, while Birnerova trailed 3-6, 5-3 when Alla Kudryavtseva retired with a strained left thigh muscle in the second set. The 27-year-old Birnerova was playing in her first career WTA tour semifinal.
