Argentina brush Serbia aside with day to spare

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina completed a surprise two-day Davis Cup victory over Serbia when Leo Mayer and Carlos Berlocq teamed up to win the doubles for an unassailable 3-0 lead in their quarter-final on Saturday.

The Argentine pair beat Viktor Troicki and veteran Nenad Simonjic, playing his 50th Davis Cup tie, 6-2 6-4 6-1 after Friday's singles victories for Mayer over Filip Krajinovic and Federico Delbonis's upset against Troicki.

Argentina went into the tie without their top player Juan Martin del Potro, who is recovering from wrist surgery, but were still the underdogs even when Serbia's world number one Novak Djokovic opted against travelling to Buenos Aires on the back of his Wimbledon victory.

"The level they showed from first point to last was supreme," captain Daniel Orsanic said after the doubles win at Tecnopolis on the city outskirts sent Argentina into a semi-final against Belgium.

"We’ve overcome rivals who were very difficult even without Djokovic, this is the merit of the whole team," he said with Del Potro looking on with his left wrist in a bandage.

Argentina, who have never won the trophy, are in their 10th semi-final since 2002 and looking to reach their fifth final.

(Reporting by Rex Gowar, editing by Mitch Phillips)