Belgrade: Novak Djokovic's attempt to play through back pain backfired on Sunday as the top-ranked Serb had to retire from his Davis Cup match against Juan Martin del Potro, sending Argentina into the final of the competition.
The top-ranked Serb fell to the floor with back pain during the third game of the second set after losing the first set in a tie-breaker to Juan Martin Del Potro 7-6 (5). He couldn't play on after that, retiring when trailing 7-6 (5), 3-0 and giving Argentina an insurmountable 3-1 lead.
Argentina will play Spain in the final. Rafael Nadal put Spain into the final after routing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-0, 6-2, 6-4 for an insurmountable 3-1 lead against France in the other semi-final. Spain completed a 4-1 win after Fernando Verdasco beat Richard Gasquet in the final match.
Djokovic pulled out of the opening singles on Friday against David Nalbandian because of lingering back problems, four days after beating Nadal in the US Open final. He was replaced by Viktor Troicki, who lost 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. However, Djokovic decided to play on Sunday with Serbia trailing 2-1 and needing to win both remaining matches.
Del Potro beat Janko Tipsarevic in the opening singles on Friday, while Serbia staved off elimination from the semi-finals by beating Argentina in straight sets in Saturday's doubles, hoping Djokovic would lead a comeback in the best-of-five series.
But, it wasn't to be as Djokovic struggled against Del Potro mostly while serving. He was stretching during changes of sides and took a medical between the two sets.
"I feel disappointed to end this tie this way," Djokovic said. "My condition was 60 percent of what I had expected."
The series ended 3-2 after Janko Tipsarevic won the final meaningless match when Juan Monaco retired after losing the first set 6-2.
Djokovic, who had an incredible 64-2 winning streak this year entering this match, and one of those losses came when he had to retire with a sore shoulder against Andy Murray in the Cincinnati final last month. He said it was his own decision to play Del Potro on Sunday.
"He was playing on a very high level," Djokovic said. "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."
Del Potro won the US Open in 2009 but had most of last year ruined by an injury. He looked back to his best on Sunday, saying he felt confident entering the match against Djokovic.
"I felt real confidence on my serve and my forehand," Del Potro said. "Argentina deserved to win."
"I'm sad for him (Djokovic) and wish him fast recovery," he added. "He has everything to keep the No. 1 position."
He said Spain are the favourite in the finals.
"But, we wish to win the Davis Cup, which will be difficult for us," Del Potro said.
"Spain will be very difficult for us especially on clay," added Argentina captain Tito Vazquez. "We know how Rafa (Nadal) plays on clay and how many tournaments he has won on the surface."
Argentina won their first Davis Cup semi-final away from home. Since the formation of the World Group in 1981, Argentina have made nine semi-final appearances, losing all six on the road before beating Serbia this weekend.
Serbia entered the semi-finals with a seven-match Davis Cup winning streak. The last team to beat Serbia in a home series was Belgium in 2005, which also was the last time Djokovic lost a singles match at home.
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