time champion France eased into the Davis Cup final Saturday, but Serbia's decision to throw unfit world No. 2 Novak Djokovic into doubles action backfired against the Czech Republic. France opened up an unassailable 3-0 lead in their semifinal against Argentina in Lyon when Michael Llodra and Arnaud Clement defeated US Open semifinalists Horacio Zeballos and Eduardo Schwank 6-4, 7-5, 6-3. In December's final, France will tackle either last year's runner-up Czech Republic or Serbia, who have never reached a Davis Cup final. The Czechs were 2-1 ahead in Belgrade after Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek saw off Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-1. Djokovic pulled out of his scheduled singles rubber Friday, a reported victim of gastroenteritis. In his absence, Viktor Troicki was beaten by Stepanek before Janko Tipsarevic leveled the tie with victory over Berdych. In the playoffs, which will decide who features in the World Group in 2011, Australia took a 2-1 lead over Belgium in Cairns when Lleyton Hewitt and Paul Hanley saw off Olivier Rochus and Ruben Bemelmans 6-1, 6-2, 6-4. Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi used their Grand Slam-winning experience to keep India afloat against Brazil in Chennai, beating Bruno Soares and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1. Kazakhstan reached the World Group for the first time by taking a 3-0 lead over Switzerland in Astana after Andrey Golubev and Yuriy Schukin defeated Yves Allegro and Stanislas Wawrinka 6-4, 6-3, 6-3. Sweden took a 2-1 lead over Italy in Lidkoping when Simon Aspelin and Robert Lindstedt fought back from two-sets down to defeat Simone Bolelli and Potito Starace 5-7, 6-7 (0-7), 7-6, (7-4), 6-3, 7-5 in 4 hours 26 minutes. Germany also made sure of its place in the World Group with a 3-0 win over South Africa while Romania saw off Ecuador 3-0. Late Saturday Mardy Fish and John Isner defeated Colombia's Robert Farah and Carlos Salamanca 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 to give the US a 2-1 lead in their Davis Cup World Group playoff. Groth, Kudryavtseva in final In China, top-seeded Jarmila Groth of Australia and unseeded Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia will meet in their first WTA Tour final after comfortable semifinals wins at the Guangzhou International Saturday. Groth accounted for Edina Gallovits of Romania 6-0, 6-1 in 38 minutes, while Kudryavtseva disappointed local fans by downing Zhang Shuai 6-0, 6-4. Safarova in semis American Bethanie Mattek-Sands reached the semifinals of the WTA Bell Challenge indoor tournament Friday, defeating Rebecca Marino of Canada 6-4, 7-6 (7-4). Mattek-Sands moves on to play third-seeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic who rallied to beat fifth-seeded Melanie Oudin of the United States 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 at the Club Avantage Multi-Sports de Quebec. In the other semifinal, Christina McHale will face Austria's Tamira Paszek Saturday. McHale beat American compatriot Alexa Glatch 6-3, 6-1, and Paszek topped eighth-seeded Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden 6-3, 6
