Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/809226
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 2 APRIL 2017 53 MOTOGP TENNIS Sport Márquez storms to pole in Argentina REIGNING World Champion Marc Márquez f lew to pole posi- tion in Argentina for the fourth straight year at a damp Termas de Río Hondo, as Karel Abra- ham took a shock second. Márquez blitzed his rivals dur- ing the opening stages of the session, recording a lap a sec- ond clear of the opposition, as the circuit gradually dried, but remained sufficiently moist for wet tyres to remain in use. The Repsol Honda rider even- tually worked his way down to a 1:47.512, which proved to be 0.763s clear of the pack, which was led by Aspar's Abraham, who sprung a surprise by secur- ing his maiden front row slot. LCR's Cal Crutchlow claimed third position, just 0.003s be- hind Abraham, while Pra- mac's Danilo Petrucci finished fourth, in front of Dani Pedrosa, who safely negotiated his way through Q1. Championship leader Maver- ick Viñales was unable to con- vert his dry practice pace and took sixth, with Yamaha team- mate Valentino Rossi seventh, the Italian having secured the final Q2 slot. Aleix Espargaró delivered eighth place for Aprilia, in front of Avintia's Loris Baz, who starred early on in Q2 before slipping back late on, and As- par's Álvaro Bautista. Jonas Folger was 11th for Tech 3, with Suzuki's Andrea Ian- none slowest in Q2 to wind up 12th. Ducati endured a miserable session as neither of its riders made it through Q1, with An- drea Dovizioso shuff led down to 13th place during the closing stages. Jorge Lorenzo, meanwhile, claimed only 16th, his worst grid spot since his rookie cam- paign in 2008, with the pair split by Tech 3's Johann Zarco and Pramac's Scott Redding. Marc VDS' Jack Miller was stranded in the pits during the final few minutes and took 17th, while KTM duo Pol Espargaró and Bradley Smith took advan- tage of the conditions to take 18th and 19th. Tito Rabat finished 20th, ahead of Héctor Barberá and Sam Lowes, whose session came to a premature end when he crashed at Turn 1. Suzuki rookie Álex Rins, rid- ing injured after fracturing his ankle during training, rounded out the field, over a second adrift of nearest opponent Lowes. France and Serbia set up Davis Cup semi-final clash FR ANCE will meet Serbia in the semi-finals of the Davis Cup after both finished off their last-eight ties inside two days on Saturday but Australia and Belgium were made to sweat. Serbia, who had been given a f lying start by 12-times grand slam champion Novak Djokovic on Friday on his comeback from an elbow injury, completed a 3-0 victory over Spain in Belgrade. A weakened France also proved too strong for a British team without Andy Murray in Rouen as they too moved into an unassailable position at 3-0. The U.S. pair of Jack Sock and Steve Johnson kept their country's hopes alive as they beat Australia's Sam Groth and John Peers 3-6 6-3 6-2 2-6 6-3 in Brisbane. Australia had taken a 2-0 lead on Friday when Jordan Thompson stunned Sock and Nick Kyrgios eased past John Isner. Belgium were also leading 2-0 after the first day of their tie against Italy in Charleroi but were pegged back as Si- mone Bolelli and Andreas Seppi clawed out a five-set win against home duo Rubens Bemelmans and Joris de Loore. Bemelmans and de Loore had a match point to win the tie in the fifth set tiebreak but the Italians nicked it 8-6. France are in the semi-finals for the fifth time in eight years after Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut beat Brit- ish duo Jamie Murray and Dominic Inglot 7-6(7) 5-7 7-5 7-5. It was revenge for France's defeat by Britain in 2015 when Andy Murray inspired his nation to the title. Serbia's Viktor Troicki and captain Nenad Zimonjic combined to beat Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta and Marc Lopez 4-6 7-6(4) 6-0 4-6 6-2. It was veteran Zimonjic's 30th Davis Cup doubles win. "I'm proud of them all. They were amazing the whole week. We had a great atmosphere and worked really hard," Zimonjic said. France and Serbia faced each other in the 2010 final when Djokovic led his nation to a first title. Kyrgios has the chance to clinch Australia's place in the semis on Sunday in the opening rubber against Sock, while in Belgium David Goffin can wrap it up for the hosts when he takes on Paolo Lorenzi in the first reverse singles. Novak Djokovic