Tennis Davis Cup

There are a lot of professional athletes these days who try their luck in Hollywood -- as an actor, fashion designer or other form of entertainer outside the realm of sports. After seeing his attempted freestyle improvisation of 'We are the Swiss', Roger Federer should quickly abandon any hopes of becoming tennis' next John Riggins and really focus on tennis.

Federer -- the No. 1 men's tennis player in the world -- was gathered at a celebration with the Swiss Davis Cup team and members of the French media when he was encouraged to break out in song. It is fair to say, hilarity ensues.

Check out the video after the jump.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Rafael Nadal has recovered from an abdominal injury and made himself available for Spain's Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic in December.

Nadal said in an e-mail that medical tests he had in Barcelona on Wednesday showed his stomach muscle had healed. He hasn't played since losing in the U.S. Open semifinals to eventual champion Juan Martin del Potro.

Nadal plans to resume playing at next week's China Open, before traveling to the Shanghai Masters, the Paris Masters and the ATP World Tour finals in London.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

22-year-old tennis hottie Maria Kirilenko has been ranked as high as No. 18 in the world, but she's getting a lot of attention for her looks instead of her tennis ability. In fact Kirilenko has been on the cover of many magazines and was selected in 2006 to be the face of Adidas. In this video we talk to Maria about her game and her name -- her connection to Utah Jazz star Andrei Kirilenko.

Check out the video after the jump.

GENOA, Italy (AP) -- Roger Federer gave Switzerland a spot in next year's Davis Cup world group by beating Potito Starace for an insurmountable 3-1 lead Sunday against Italy.

The top-ranked Federer kept his focus through a two-hour rain delay before completing a 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 win to clinch the best-of-five playoff series.

Federer defeated Simone Bolelli in his opening singles Friday and posted two points for Switzerland less than a week after his five-set loss to Juan Martin del Potro in the U.S. Open final.

TORRE PACHECO, Spain (AP) -- Defending champion Spain advanced to the Davis Cup finals by defeating Israel 3-0 on Saturday.

Feliciano Lopez and Tommy Robredo beat Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram 7-6 (6), 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-2. Spain won all three of its opening matches to secure a place in its seventh final overall.

Spain will play the Czech Republic in the December final.

POREC, Croatia (AP) -- Radek Stepanek overcame a record 78 aces to defeat Ivo Karlovic in five sets in one of the longest matches in tennis history, giving the Czech Republic a 1-0 lead over Croatia in the Davis Cup semifinals Friday.

Stepanek won 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-7 (2), 16-14 in a grueling match that lasted 5 hours, 59 minutes. The longest known Davis Cup match was 6 hours, 22 minutes between John McEnroe and Mats Wilander in 1982.

"I feel like I was in a 10-round boxing match," Karlovic said. "Everything hurts."

GENOA, Italy (AP) -- Coming off a five-set loss in the U.S. Open final, Roger Federer will play every day when Switzerland faces Italy in the Davis Cup playoffs.

The top-ranked Federer, who reached all four Grand Slam finals this year, believes his form can hold up after losing to Juan Martin del Potro in New York on Monday.

"I've had to do this before once after the Australian Open. I went to play Romania on clay and I was able to win all three points," Federer said, recalling his performance in Switzerland's 3-2 win in the first round of the 2004 World Group. "I'm hoping I can do it again."

POREC, Croatia (AP) -- The United States was ousted from the Davis Cup, and left to wonder how it might have gone had Andy Roddick been around to pelt opponents with his laser serve.

James Blake was unable to keep the Americans alive in the quarterfinals Sunday, losing to Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in the opening match of reverse singles.

Cilic's victory on indoor clay put Croatia ahead 3-1 in the best-of-five format, sending the country to its first semifinal since winning the Davis Cup in 2005. The final score was 3-2 after American doubles specialist Bob Bryan beat Roko Karanusic 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in the concluding match.

Just how hurt is Rafael Nadal, anyway? He's not defending his Wimbledon title because his knees weren't at 100 percent. Now Nadal has been left off of Spain's Davis Cup team for next month's matches.

Spanish coach Albert Costa says Nadal "is not well." This was obvious to anyone who watched his exhibition match with Stanislas Wawrinka, a match which Nadal lost. There is no real shame in losing to Warwrinka, who just gave Andy Murray all he could handle in one of Wimbledon's best matches this year. Nadal, however, is (as of now) the world's No. 1 ranked player and thus isn't supposed to lose to anybody.

Nadal is suffering from tendinitis of the knees. As anyone with tendinitis knows, it's slow to get better, and that's assuming it ever does, said the writer, three seconds before he shook out his aching hand. Will Nadal ever get better? And what if he doesn't?