Roddick leads U.S. to Davis Cup semifinals

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Andy Roddick was handed the large American flag and then just stood there. He wasn’t going on a victory lap until his teammates joined him.

Roddick’s Davis Cup dominance led the United States to the title last year and his victory Sunday eliminated France and clinched a spot in the semifinals against Spain. But Roddick clearly cherishes the camaraderie of this close-knit bunch.

The same can’t be said for France. Not after its top player, Richard Gasquet, begged out of a matchup with Roddick with his country facing elimination.

Behind a blistering serve, Roddick defeated Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 for the deciding victory in the best-of-five quarterfinal. Roddick’s second singles victory in three days secured the Americans’ sixth straight Davis Cup win, including last year’s final over Russia.

“It’s nice to get rewarded for all the rough losses that we had, and I’ve been a part of a lot of big losses for us in Davis Cup,” said Roddick, who improved to 29-9 in the competition. “You’ve got to try to keep an even keel when things are going your way, but obviously it’s been fun having won the last six.”

A day after a loss by the No. 1 doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan kept France’s hopes alive, Roddick was never threatened in giving the Americans an insurmountable 3-1 lead. While he was held to 17 aces, he lost only 13 points on his serve to improve to 10-0 in clinching situations for the U.S.

In other quarterfinals, Russia eliminated the Czech Republic 3-2, and Argentina ousted Sweden 4-1. Spain advanced Saturday and went on to defeat Germany 4-1.