France bounces the U.S.

Grosjean beats Roddick to reach Davis Cup final

Andy Roddick said he was hampered by a sore back. AP

PARIS (AP) -- Sebastien Grosjean overcame an ankle injury to beat Andy Roddick as defending champion France beat the United States on Sunday and advanced to the Davis Cup final.

Roddick sent a forehand long and Grosjean claimed a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory on the clay at Roland Garros, giving France its third win in the best-of-five competition. James Blake beat Arnaud Clement 6-4, 6-3 in 49 minutes in the final singles match. France won 3-2 overall.

France will face Russia, which clinched a berth in the finals for the first time since 1995 when Marat Safin overpowered Wimbledon finalist David Nalbandian in four sets for an insurmountable 3-1 lead.

After the winning point, the diminutive Grosjean was lifted in the air by his teammates as French fans cheered. The U.S. team rallied around Roddick, consoling him with pats on the back.

"I had an enormous desire to win," Grosjean said.

France has now won eight straight Davis Cup matches.

Americans missing out PARIS (AP) -- Andy Roddick thinks U.S. fans provided an "awesome" atmosphere at this weekend's Davis Cup semifinal. His captain says most Americans don't know what they're missing by ignoring the event. "You come here and see what Davis Cup is all about," U.S. captain Patrick McEnroe said Sunday, after his team lost 3-2 to France before 15,000 spectators at Roland Garros. "You wonder, well, just because it's a problem for America, so what? "Could this event have been any better from a fan's perspective? If a U.S. public can't catch on to that, well, too bad." The Davis Cup suffers from low TV audience figures in the United States, especially compared to Grand Slams. This weekend's tie wasn't helped by early starting times: 0830 GMT for the singles Friday and Sunday, and 1200 GMT for Saturday's doubles. The lack of American viewers "is always a problem for us," McEnroe said. "But it's a wonderful atmosphere. To me [this weekend's tie] is one of the best I've ever seen." FULL STORY

"He just stayed there mentally the whole time," Roddick said. "I stuck with my game plan. I just didn't execute it well enough."

Roddick, slowed by a lower back pain, received treatment several times during the match.

"It's nothing, it's just sore and stiff, and felt really fatigued," Roddick said. "I don't know what caused it."

Lacking his power game, Roddick fired only six aces, compared to 20 in his match against Clement on Friday. He also produced 33 winners on the slow clay of Roland Garros, compared to Grosjean's 48.

"I don't think I served my best today," Roddick said. "I didn't have the same pop that I did the other day on my serve."

In the opening set, Grosjean mixed drop shots with powerful groundstrokes, and won the set when Roddick returned a second serve into the net.

Roddick had a large Band-Aid taped to his lower back between sets and moved out to a 3-0 lead in the second set. In the sixth game, Grosjean had his right ankle taped after sliding and tumbling on the clay.

Roddick capitalized on Grosjean's loss of speed with some great net play. In the seventh game, he slammed a close-range forehand at Grosjean, who crouched down at the net and shielded himself with his racket, deflecting the shot.

Roddick went on to win the set. He saved Grosjean's first set point with a forehand winner, then lost the next game to trail 2-1 in sets.

After double-faulting to give Grosjean a 3-2 lead in the fourth set, Roddick swore, gestured angrily and threw his towel to the ground. He then failed to win a point in the next game.

Trailing 4-3, Roddick had to prop himself up with his racket after sliding to retrieve a Grosjean forehand. He won his next service game, but set up Grosjean's first match point with a long forehand, and lost the match with an almost identical miss.

Roddick, now 7-2 in the Davis Cup, lost his singles match against Clement on Friday, and Blake lost to Grosjean. Blake and Todd Martin gave the American team its only point by winning Saturday's doubles match against Mickael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro.

"I'm proud of our guys," U.S. team captain Patrick McEnroe said after Roddick's defeat. "We fought hard.

"I think Andy played a much smarter game today. He was maybe playing a guy who had more weapons."

The United States, the winner of a record 31 Davis Cup titles, last reached the final in 1997 and has not won the event since 1995. The U.S. team has never beaten France at Roland Garros, dropping five straight matches on the red clay.

France, now 7-7 against the United States, is seeking its first back-to-back Davis Cup title since 1932, when the French team won its 11th consecutive match.

France is making its third appearance in the final in four years. The Russians have never won the title.

The final is scheduled for Nov. 29-Dec. 1 in France.

 

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