Tennis Atlantic

Alexander Zverev’s Germany and Team USA Surge into Davis Cup Quarterfinals
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

Davis Cup action concluded on Sunday with one major upset and some otherwise interesting action on the weekend, highlighted by Germany upsetting Australia on the road, and Team USA dealing with a tricky road test against Serbia. Here is your full recap.

France d. Netherlands 3-1

Despite Thiemo De Bakker’s opening rubber upset of Adrian Mannarino, the French team staved off the upset minded Dutch thanks to a big win from Mannarino against Robin Haase in five sets on Sunday. Richard Gasquet had beaten Haase on Friday, and Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer fell in doubles against Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert on Saturday. The defending champions remain alive and face Italy on the road next.

Italy d. Japan 3-1

Fabio Fognini won a pair of five set matches, the first over Taro Daniel, and the second over Yuichi Sugita to push Italy through to the quarters. Fognini also won the doubles rubber paired with Simone Bolelli, and Sugita’s win over Andreas Seppi was the only joy for the home Japanese side. The weekend of Davis Cup was likely tiring for Fognini, but perhaps will inspire him on the ATP tour in coming weeks.

Spain d. Great Britain 3-1

Cam Norrie came back from 2 sets down on clay to stun Roberto Bautista Agut, despite having practically no professional experience on the surface. He temporarily gave the underdog Brits hope. Spain didn’t let that hope go much further though, Albert Ramos beat Norrie on Sunday, and Liam Broady on Friday, and Pablo Carreno Busta/Feliciano Lopez beat Dominic Inglot/Jamie Murray in doubles. Spain hosts Germany next.

Germany d. Australia 3-1

Alexander Zverev pulled off consecutive gutsy wins against Alex De Minaur (in five sets) and Nick Kyrgios to propel Germany into the quarterfinals. Kyrgios beat J.L. Struff in his other singles match, but a massive result for Struff and his partner Tim Puetz in doubles against Matthew Ebden and John Peers was perhaps what swung the entire tie.

Kazakhstan d. Switzerland 4-1

Despite lacking in big name talent, Kazakhstan continues to produce results in the Davis Cup. It was a live rubber sweep for the Kazakh’s, Dmitry Popko and team leader Mikhail Kukushkin beat Henri Laaksonen and Adrian Bodmer in singles, and then Timur Khabibulin and Aleksandr Nedovyesov sealed the tie with a doubles win against Marc-Andrea Huesler/Luca Margaroli. The dead rubbers were split.

Croatia d. Canada 3-1

Croatia’s Borna Coric scored wins against Canada’s Vasek Pospisil and Denis Shapovalov in singles to send his country into the quarters opposite Kazakhstan. Shapovalov’s victory over Viktor Galovic ended up being of no importance, as Pospisil and Daniel Nestor fell in doubles from 2 sets to love up against Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig. Playing on the road, and on clay, was too much for Canada.

USA d. Serbia 3-1 

Team USA will host Belgium after Sam Querrey, John Isner, and Ryan Harrison/Steve Johnson dominated a weak Serbian side on the road, and on clay. Laslo Djere, Dusan Lajovic, and Miljan Zekic/Nikola Milojevic all went down in defeat. Johnson lost a dead rubber.

Belgium d. Hungary 3-2

The defending finalists were tested by Hungary, but prevailed, Ruben Bemelmans and David Goffin gave the Belgians a 2-0 lead after defeating Marton Fucsovics and Attila Balazs. The Hungarian pair defeated Bemelmans and Joris De Loore in doubles, but Goffin sealed the tie with a win against the rising Fucsovics.

Action outside the world group

Ties in America’s group 1 were set for round 2, Argentina will face Chile, and Brazil will travel to Colombia. In Asia, India faces China and Uzbekistan will take on Pakistan. In Europe it will be Israel traveling to the Czech Republic, Sweden hosting Portugal, Slovakia against Bosnia, and Austria facing Russia.