France nears Davis Cup title

BELGRADE, Serbia, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra rallied from two sets down to win their critical doubles match Saturday and bring France within one victory of the Davis Cup.

Clement and Llodra defeated Viktor Troicki and Nenad Zimonjic 3-6, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 7-5, 6-4, giving France a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-five Davis Cup Finals. The match took 4 hours, 34 minutes to complete.

A win in either of the singles matches on Sunday would bring France its first Davis Cup crown in nine years and its 10th overall. That would also give France the third most Davis Cup wins in an event that has been played since 1900.

The United States has won the cup 32 times and Australia has captured it on 28 occasions. France and Britain are currently tied with nine. Serbia has never won the Davis Cup and is playing in its first final.

France's Gael Monfils will meet Serbian star Novak Djokovic in the first of Sunday's singles matches. Djokovic is ranked third in the world. Gilles Simon of France is scheduled to meet Janko Tipsarevic in the concluding match, one that could determine which nation wins the cup.

Clement, a former runner-up at the Australian Open, improved his career Davis Cup doubles record to 8-2. Llodra is 15-5.