Buenos Aires, Argentina – Carlos Berlocq upset Gilles Simon in four sets Sunday to secure Argentina's best-of-five Davis Cup quarterfinal victory over France.
Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga upended Juan Monaco, 6-3, 6-3, 6-0 to force the tie to a fifth match. Berlocq then upended the world's No. 13 player, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to boost Argentina into a September semifinal against the Czech Republic.
Simon, a late replacement for the injured Richard Gasquet, had won four of his previous six meetings with Berlocq, but couldn't come through at Parque Roca after suffering a back injury Friday in the a loss against Monaco. He saved five match points before Berlocq finally sealed the outcome. That handed Argentina its first Davis Cup victory over France in six encounters.
Monaco struggled immensely in the third set and didn't win a single point in the first three games.
Up next will be a rematch for Argentina against the team that knocked them out in the semifinals last year.
Tsonga was a five-set winner on Friday against Carlos Berlocq, but David Nalbandian and Horacio Zeballos rallied from a set down for a doubles victory over Julien Benneteau and Michael Llodra to give Argentina a slight edge Saturday.
Argentina came into the weekend a bit depleted as well, competing without world No. 7 and former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro, who had also declared himself unavailable for the Argentines' opening-round tie against Germany in February.
France last won the Davis Cup in 2001, while Argentina is still seeking its first-ever title, having finished as a runner-up on four occasions, including as recently as 2011.
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