Sweden are through to the semifinals of the Davis Cup by NEC
after building up an unbeatable 3-0 lead over Russia in Malmo this afternoon. Simon
Aspelin and Jonas Bjorkman were Sweden's heroes after teaming up for the first time to
defeat Andrei Olhovskiy and Yevgeny Kafelnikov 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, 6-7(2), 6-2.
In a wildly fluctuating encounter, Aspelin and Bjorkman saved three set points in the
third set, but then squandered two match points in the fourth, before finally sealing a
dramatic victory in three hours and 41 minutes.
Both countries had been forced to make late changes to their doubles line-ups after losing
players through injury. But while Olhovskiy and Kafelnikov had made 14 previous
appearances as a pair in Davis Cup, it was the first time Aspelin and Bjorkman had stepped
on court together.
Aspelin, a 26-year-old economics graduate of Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, is only
in his third year as a professional, although he reached the semi-finals of last year's
ATP World Doubles Championship with fellow Swede Johan Landsberg.
Not surprisingly he was riddled with nerves at the start of the match, conceding his
opening two service games with double faults. The 34-year-old veteran Olhovskiy was also
broken twice, but the Russians managed to break Bjorkman in the ninth game and wrap up the
opening set in 37 minutes.
The Swedes raised their game in the second set, and with Kafelnikov overcompensating for
his struggling partner, broke him twice to level the match.
The Russians should have won a third set lasting 63 minutes. Aspelin served two double
faults to be broken in the fourth game, but Olhovskiy missed three points on his serve for
a 5-2 advantage. Serving at 4-5, Bjorkman faced three set points but the Russians could
not capitalise. Olhovskiy was broken again and Aspelin finally held his own delivery to
put the home team ahead.
Kafelnikov dropped serve in the fifth game of the fourth set, and when Bjorkman held two
match points on his serve at 5-4, the audience were ready to celebrate. The Russians had
different ideas, saving the first match point and then watching Bjorkman hit a forehand
volley in the net. They raced through the tiebreak by seven points to two.
At this point the 29-year-old Swede looked visibly rattled, but fortunately Aspelin
managed to hold serve from 0-40 in the first game of the final set. Kafelnikov's nerve was
the first to crack and he was broken to give Sweden a 4-2 advantage. Two games later and
the home side were celebrating its first Davis Cup semi-final appearance since 1998.
Aftewards a delighted Aspelin confessed that he had butterflies in his stomach when he
woke up this morning. "I was pretty nervous when I went onto court and my start was
not good. I recovered after that and I think I played quite well in the end. Playing Davis
Cup was better than my expectations and the support from the audience was
tremendous."
His experienced partner admitted that he briefly lost his composure after squandering two
match points. "I was so mad at myself at the end of the fourth set as I missed all my
first serves in the game where I was broken. Fortunately Simon remained calm and I managed
to find my rhythm again. In the end we played some really good tennis."
A disappointed Olhovskiy said that he had not enjoyed the best preparations for the tie
after only coming in at the last minute. "I came really late here and I hadn't
practised for 10 days before my arrival. Maybe if I had had another couple of days
practice things might have been different."
Kafelnikov added: "We did what we could but it was not enough. In the end a few
critical points made the difference this weekend and that's what makes the competition
special. I felt like we had the best chance to win the Davis Cup this year, so it looks as
though I will have to carry on playing a few more years."
Sweden, who have now enjoyed two home victories in 2001, will be on their travels for
September's semi-finals, where they will face the winners of the tie between Brazil and
Australia.
