LONDON, Sept 14: The Czech Republic closed in on their third Davis Cup final in five years by taking a 2-0 lead against Argentina on Friday while Milos Raonic saved a match point before winning a tense five-setter to put Canada level at 1-1 against Serbia in the other semi-final.

Radek Stepanek swept aside Juan Monaco 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, 6-2 before the fifth-ranked Tomas Berdych stretched the margin for the defending champion Czechs with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over hard-hitting Leonardo Mayer.

The other semi-final looks set to be more closely contested, despite top-ranked Novak Djokovic’s dominant performance on Friday.

Djokovic bounced back from his loss to Rafael Nadal in Monday’s US Open final by routing Vasek Pospisil 6-2, 6-0, 6-4 to give Serbia a 1-0 lead in Belgrade.

But in the best match of the day, Raonic served 34 aces to outlast Janko Tipsarevic 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 10-8 in a match lasting 4 hours, 11 minutes.

Raonic saved a match point when trailing 5-4 in the fifth set, and then used four aces in five points to finally serve out the match.

Djokovic won 12 consecutive games midway through his match and dispatched the 41st-ranked Pospisil without facing a break point.

The Serb said he was still recovering from the change of time zones and jet leg after arriving in the Serbian capital on Wednesday.

“I’m glad the match was short,” Djokovic said. “I’ve done really well considering I’ve had one, one-and-a-half practices since returning from the United States. I know I lack freshness in my legs.”

Nadal also made an impressive return to the court following the short turnaround.

In Spain’s World Group playoffs against Ukraine, Nadal overwhelmed Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-0, 6-0, 6-4 on outdoor clay to put Spain 2-0 up going into the doubles. Fernando Verdasco beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in the opening match.

Nadal is playing in his first Davis Cup match since the 2011 final, in part because of a seven-month layoff due to a knee injury, but said he felt fine returning to his preferred clay after the hard courts in New York.

“It is a positive moment and a very special year for me, arguably the best,” Nadal said. “I have played in 11 finals and won 10 tournaments so I can’t ask for more.

“I feel comfortable, I feel like I am playing well but from experience I know they are moments that come and go and I have to enjoy them.”

Another player to dish out a tennis lesson was Britain’s Andy Murray, who thumped 16-year-old Borna Coric 6-3, 6-0, 6-3 as Croatia and Britain finished the day tied at 1-1 in Umag.

The US Open junior champion initially caused Britain’s world number three problems but from 3-3 in the first set, Murray won nine games in a row to take complete control.“I played ... to exhaust him since I knew it would be difficult for him to play senior tennis given that until yesterday he was in junior tennis,” said the 26-year-old Wimbledon and Olympic champion.

However, his British team-mate Daniel Evans was then well beaten 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 by Ivan Dodig as Croatia drew level.

In other play-off ties, Australia took a decisive 2-0 lead over Poland in Warsaw as Lleyton Hewitt romped past Lukasz Kubot 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 and Bernard Tomic followed up with a 7-5, 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 victory over Michal Przysiezny.

Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka, fresh from his semi-final run at the US Open, made a flying start to his country’s meeting against lowly Ecuador in Neuchatel.

World number 10 Wawrinka beat Emilio Gomez, ranked 340th, 6-3, 6-0, 6-3.

Long overshadowed by Swiss icon Roger Federer, who is four years his senior, Wawrinka is now squarely in the limelight thanks to a run of solid performances.

World number 164 Marco Chiudinelli then made it 2-0 for Switzerland with a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7) win over Julio Cesar Campozano, 295th in the ATP rankings.

Philipp Kohlschreiber and Florian Mayer put Germany in control of their clash with Brazil.

Kohlschreiber beat Rogerio Dutra Silva 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 while Mayer coasted to a 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 success against Tomaz Bellucci.

In a match that started Thursday, Israel went 2-1 up on Belgium after Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram beat Steve Darcis and Olivier Rochus 6-3, 5-7, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the doubles.

The Netherlands took a 2-0 lead over Austria as Robin Haase beat Andreas Haider-Maurer 6-4, 6-3, 6-1, and Thiemo de Bakker defeated Jurgen Melzer 5-7, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.—Agencies