The third day of a Davis Cup tie that’s already been decided is often a bland affair.  Teams will substitute their weaker players.  The enthusiasm is a bit lacking.  In the past, such matches were often skipped at the behest of either the losing or winning team or by a gentleman’s agreement.  However, fans that may have taken the 3 days off to enjoy the Davis Cup atmosphere may feel ripped off if a match is called off, so, at the very least, some player will play, although best of 3 sets is usually the order of the day.

The French had already clinched when Monfils beat Nalbandian on Day 1 and Llodra beat Juan Monaco, and then on Day 2, Llodra teamed up with veteran, Arnaud Clement, and won over Schwank and Zeballos, who reached the semifinals of the US Open only last week.  The two are reasonably good singles player, and were asked to play singles on Day 3.

On Day 3, Gilles Simon took on Eduardo Schwank and needed 3 sets to win.  Zeballos played veteran Arnaud Clement.  Zeballos took a 5-3 lead before his game went away.  Clement won 9 games in a row, taking a 5-0 lead in the second set.  During the changeover, the French were cheering and the Argentines were cheering, knowing their man was way out of it, hoping he’d win one game.  The exuberant Michael Llodra even went over to the Argentine side, jumping up and down with the Argentines, getting a smile out of his doubles partner.  Zeballos asked the chair umpire to say something to the crowd and Zeballos uttered “Oles”.  A good time was had by all.

Only in Davis Cup will you have a 5 minute break where everyone is having a grand old time.  Zeballos, for his part, won his serve and was in mock exultation.  His coach seemed none too pleased, but then, it was a meaningless match.  Clement would win his serve at love and complete the 5-0 sweep.

The French then used the post-victory celebration to show highlights of the 1991 match against the US, with Yannick Noah as captain, Guy Forget and Henri Leconte on hand.  Henri Leconte showed up on Day 3.  When Forget saw himself cheering, then Yannick Noah jumping for joy and leading something of a French conga line, you could see Forget’s eyes mist, knowing that they had accomplished almost 20 years ago.  Leconte seemed a bit less nostalgic looking at his younger, thinner self.

As France makes the final for the first time in 8 years, even a meaningless Day 3 had some meaning.  The Argentines came in hoping for a Nalbandian miracle, the one that carried them past Russia.  They were hoping because a healthy del Potro would have made for a formidable team.

In the one big surprise of the Davis Cup weekend was India beating Brazil.  Brazil should be the better team on paper.  Thomas Belluci is a top 50 player.  Ricardo Mello is 75 in the world.  However, India was playing in humid Chennai.  Belluci and Mello both needed 5 long sets to win their matches.  India staved off defeat by playing veteran doubles team Bhupathi and Paes who beat the team of Melo and Soares.  Bhupathi and Paes have long since split up.  Paes primarily plays with Dlouhy.  However, for Davis Cup and Olympics, the two play together, albeit grudgingly.

Devvarman and Bopanna, who mostly plays doubles, were called to play singles.  Devvarman had some luck.  Down 4-0 in the second, Bellucci retired.  Bopanna also did his part and beat Mello in straight sets.  This is an incredible win for India who hasn’t had a top singles player in quite some time.

Novak Djokovic was expected to play for Serbia.  With him, the chances of winning were reasonably good.  Without him, the chances were not so good.  Serbia got a bit lucky.  Although Victor Troicki lost to tricky Radek Stepanek, Tipsarevic pulled off the upset over Tomas Berdych.  Djokovic played doubles, but they were unable to make an impression on Stepanek and Berdych.  Djokovic felt he had to play singles.

Although Djokovic lost the first set, he came back to win the next 3 sets.  Berdych, who had had a great two months, seems to have come back to earth with an early loss in the US Open.  It’s now up to Tipsarevic to handle Stepanek.  Stepanek plays so unusually, flat and net-rushing, that many players really have a tough time handling him.

In an odd result, Kazakhstan beat Switzerland, 5-0.  The Kazakhs don’t really have any players to call their own, but they have money, and they’ve convinced several players to play for them (mostly Russians).  Apparently, despite having Wawrinka, the Swiss were unable to muster a win.  The Swiss played Chiudinelli, who is Swiss number 3, was unable to make a dent.

Sweden is looking to get back into the main draw as well and had to rely on Soderling to win both his matches as Vinciguerra is too low-ranked to be considered a viable threat to win a match.  Fortunately, Sweden has a good doubles team in Aspelin and Lindstedt, who still needed 5 sets to beat the Italian team of Bolelli and Starace.  The Italians don’t have any player as good as Soderling, but they have many players that are better than Sweden’s number 2.  Alas, sometimes all you need is one guy.

There’s still one more match to go to see who will play France in the finals.  Serbia has a better number 1 man in Novak Djokovic, but a weaker number 2 man.  On the other hand, Stepanek and Berdych give the Czechs a decent 1-2 shot and a decent doubles team to boot.  France will likely be favored over either team, although France would host the Czechs if they win, but go to Serbia, if they win.