Tennis Atlantic

American Sweep and Spanish Triumph at the 2018 Davis Cup Quarterfinals
Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic

France d. Italy 3-1

Despite having to play on the road France came away the victor in all but one singles rubber to win 3-1. Lucas Pouille was the national hero with wins over Andreas Seppi and Fabio Fognini to win the tie. His win against Seppi came in 5 sets, while against Fognini he needed 4 sets. Fognini beat Jeremy Chardy in the lone singles win for Italy, while Fognini and Simone Bolelli were trounced by Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in the doubles rubber.

Spain d. Germany 3-2

Rafael Nadal featured in a big way but David Ferrer emerged the hero as Spain triumphed over Germany 3-2. Nadal didn’t drop a set against Philipp Kohlschreiber and Alexander Zverev, but Germany kept the tie alive thanks to wins by Zverev against Ferrer and Tim Puetz/J.L, Struff over the Lopez brothers in doubles. After Nadal won the stage was set for Kohlschreiber vs. Ferrer to decide the tie. Despite his decline at the ATP level Ferrer grinded away for multiple hours to emerge the victor 7-5 in the 5th set. Neither veteran was poor, but Spain’s hopes remain alive for perhaps a final Davis Cup title for their golden generation.

Croatia d. Kazakhstan 3-1

Marin Cilic won twice without dropping a set (d. Dmitry Popko and Mikhail Kukushkin), and even though Kukushkin upset Borna Coric on Friday, the doubles win for Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic all but sealed the tie for Croatia as they outmatched Timur Khabibulin and Aleksandr Nedovyesov.

USA d. Belgium 3-0

Strong play from John Isner and Sam Querrey against Joris De Loore and Ruben Bemelmans setup Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock to close out the tie with a doubles win against Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen. Belgium came into the tie outgunned, and the end result was no surprise as team USA remains a great contender for the 2018 Davis Cup title.

Action outside the World Group

Argentina, Columbia, India, Uzbekistan, Czech Republican, Sweden, Bosnia, and Austria advanced to the World Group Playoffs for 2018. Austria being the biggest surprise of that bunch as Andrey Rublev and Evgeny Donskoy disappointed in a big way at home.