Argentina See Off Serbia To Reach Davis Cup Final

Serbia's hopes of defending their Davis Cup title were left in tatters yesterday as Novak Djokovic was forced to retire from the third rubber - handing an overall victory to Argentina.

The new U.S. Open champion had sat out of the first round of single rubbers - a move which had left Serbia trailing 0-2 at the end of the first day as David Nalbanian and Juan Martin Del Potro both enjoyed win over Troicki and Tipsarevic.

But Troicki & Zimonjic kept Serbian hopes alive on Saturday as they won the double rubber against Chela and Monaco.

Despite not being a 100% fit Djokovic took to the court yesterday to face Juan Martin Del Potro in the first of the reverse singles - a match that he had to win.

With had the potential to be a mouthwatering clash and it was living up to it's billing as Del Potro edged a tight first set 7-6.

But through the opening set it was clear that there was something wrong with Djokovic's back and when he fell 3-0 behind in the second he had to call it a day.

He was given a standing ovation by the Belgrade crowd. Speaking to the Washington Post after the match Djokovic said: "I feel disappointed to end this tie this way.My condition was 60 percent of what I had expected.

"He was playing on a very high level. I can’t say that even if I was healthy that I would have won. He was serving so well that even when I was on the ball, I could not handle the returns."

Argentina will now face Spain the final as they closed out a 4-1 win over France.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw