Spain Leads France 2-0, Serbia Trails Argentina

London, Sept 17:  Rafael Nadal didn't do much to back up his complaints about the busy tennis calendar when he dropped only four games Friday to help get Spain off to a 2-0 start against France in the Davis Cup semifinals.

Nadal was back on court four days after losing a grueling U.S. Open final to Novak Djokovic. He routed Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-0, 6-1 on his favorite clay-court surface and Spain ended the day leading 2-0 in the best-of-five series.

Djokovic was a late withdrawal from the opening day's singles in Serbia's semifinal against Argentina with a back problem. His replacement, Viktor Troicki, lost to David Nalbandian 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Juan Martin del Potro defeated Janko Tipsarevic 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 to put Argentina 2-0 ahead.

After beating Gasquet in a little over two hours, Nadal hit out at the tennis schedule and did not rule out strike action if there wasn't an immediate fix.

“We don't want to get there. We want to play,” Nadal said. “But if it's a fight about something that we think is fair, something would have to happen.”

Nadal broke seven times in a dominant performance as he took his Davis Cup singles record on clay to 13-0.

“I'm close to the end of my energy,” Nadal said. “I'm not in perfect condition physically, I know that. If the match stays longer it (would) be very difficult for me.”

David Ferrer was almost as impressive as teammate Nadal in beating Gilles Simon 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 to put Spain in a commanding position at Cordoba's bullring.

Feliciano Lopez and Fernando Verdasco can clinch victory by beating Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Saturday's doubles.

Should Spain wrap up the win, Nadal conceded he would prefer to face Argentina in the final as that would be played in Spain, and he would avoid another meeting with Djokovic, who has won all six of their matches this year, all in finals.

Serbia managed to get through its semifinal against Czech Republic last year when Djokovic withdrew from the opening day's singles in similar circumstances—although on that occasion he had just lost the U.S. Open final to Nadal.

The defending champions face an uphill struggle this time around after falling 2-0 down on the first day.

“Congratulation to them for today,” Djokovic posted on Twitter. “They played great matches! We don't give up,hoping we can win doubles!”

Serbia team captain Bogdan Obradovic said Djokovic could play in the doubles on Saturday.

The top-ranked Djokovic only arrived in Belgrade on Thursday and blamed a back injury—for which he had treatment during the U.S. Open final—for his withdrawal.

“Djokovic's absence helped us for sure,” Nalbandian said. “I found out some 25-30 minutes before the match that he will not play, but I was prepared to play either him or Troicki, it did not matter.”

Troicki made 58 unforced errors against Nalbandian, who took his Davis Cup singles record to 22-5.

Del Potro won a battle of long rallies against U.S. Open quarterfinalist Tipsarevic, finishing off the 2 hour, 31 minute match with an ace.

“We are in a good position now to win here, but nothing is over,” Del Potro said.

In Sydney, Roger Federer made a sluggish start before beating Lleyton Hewitt 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-3 to move Switzerland level at 1-1 against Australia in a World Group playoff.

Federer said he was feeling the effects of his five-set loss to Djokovic in the U.S. Open semifinals and felt uncomfortable on an “old school” grass court.

“I all of a sudden realized this was much more difficult than I expected,” Federer said.

Bernard Tomic earlier beat Stanislas Wawrinka 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 to give Australia a 1-0 lead.

Milos Raonic's return from a two-month layoff with a hip injury ended in a surprise 5-7, 7-5, 6-3, 6-1 loss to the No. 182-ranked Amir Weintraub, leaving Canada and Israel tied at 1-1 in Ramat Hasharon.

Raonic's Canadian teammate Vasek Pospisil had earlier beaten the higher-ranked Dudi Sela 7-6 (4), 6-7 (6), 6-1, 6-7 (2), 6-3.

The winners of the eight playoffs will play in the 16-team World Group in 2012. AP