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.
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.
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.
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.
Djokovic and Kyrgios Lead Push for Davis Cup Semifinals Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
An exciting weekend of Davis Cup action is in the books, and semifinals await in Belgium and France, while a host of nations have a shot at reaching the World Group in 2018 via the World Group playoffs.
Belgium d. Italy 3-2 (3-1 on live rubbers)
The leadership of David Goffin and Steve Darcis continued to shine for Belgium as they both won matches on Friday over Paolo Lorenzi and Andreas Seppi respectively to setup Belgium to capture the tie and reach the semifinals. Despite Seppi and Simone Bolelli winning the doubles over Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore to extend the tie, Goffin eased past Lorenzi in the decider. In the dead rubber, Alessandro Giannessi beat De Loore, perhaps showing he should have been the choice over Lorenzi in the decisive rubber.
Australia d. USA 3-2 (3-1 on live rubbers)
It was a huge week for Nick Kyrgios, who has had a fantastic last month or so. Kyrgios beat John Isner and Sam Querrey without so much as dropping a set to push Australia through to the semifinals at home in Brisbane. Jordan Thompson was also huge, as Thompson upset Jack Sock on Friday. The USA was able to keep the tie alive with a doubles rubber win by Steve Johnson and Sock over John Peers and Sam Groth, but Kyrgios was simply unbreakable in his matches. John Isner would go on to win a dead rubber, but it will be Australia taking on Belgium for a spot in the DC final.
France d. Great Britain 4-1 (3-0 on live rubbers)
Clay was kryptonite for team GB as Lucas Pouille, Jeremy Chardy, and Julien Benneteau/Nicolas Mahut dominated Kyle Edmund, Dan Evans, and Dominic Inglot/Jamie Murray to rule their DC tie 3-0, dropping just one set in the decisive doubles rubber. The British side never looked comfortable on the slower surface, with Evans claiming a dead rubber win, while Chardy also did so. The French side may not have a “star” player, but it remains the deepest in the DC field.
Serbia d. Spain 4-1 (3-0 on live rubbers)
A healthy and motivated Novak Djokovic helped Serbia take care of business against a weaker Spanish side, Djokovic and Viktor Troicki won in straights over Albert Ramos and Pablo Carreno Busta on Friday, then Troicki and “old man” Nenad Zimonjic beat PCB and Marc Lopez to clinch the tie in the doubles rubber. Dusan Lajovic and Ramos would split results in the dead rubbers, but Djokovic now heads into a semifinal against France as the undisputed best player left in the competition this year. He looks ready to do damage in the semis and hopefully the final, and if Serbia is going to win the Davis Cup he’ll most likely need to sweep the matches in which he plays.
Results outside of the World Group
India and Kazakhstan dominated China and Uzbekistan respectively to reach the World Group playoffs, despite India dealing with a row between captain Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes, they still played well. Brazil and Colombia are both heading to the World Group playoffs as well, with Thomaz Bellucci and Santiago Giraldo leading the way past Ecuador and Chile respectively.
Robin Haase went 3-0 in his matches as Holland beat Bosnia to reach the WG playoffs, Belarus beat Austria’s Melzer brothers to do the same, while Joao Sousa’s Portugal were efficient and decisive over Ukraine winning 4-1. Sweden, Lithuania, Denmark, and South Africa will be competing for promotion to Europe/Africa group 1 in 2018.
2017 Davis Cup Round 1 Recap: Stunning wins for Belgium and Italy Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
An exciting Davis Cup weekend saw three ties go the distance as nations booked their spots in the World Group quarterfinals for 2017. Here is your recap of all of the happenings at venues across the world.
A rowdy Buenos Aires crowd went home on Monday disappointed, in a tie that went an extra day after rainstorms prevented it from finishing on Sunday. The Italians strong 2-0 start put defending champions Argentina into a hole that they couldn’t recover from by the end of the tie. Paolo Lorenzi defeated Guido Pella to open the tie, and Andreas Seppi needed four sets to put away Carlos Berlocq. Argentina staved off defeat by winning the doubles, as Berlocq and Leonardo Mayer combined to defeat Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini in five sets. Berlocq then defeated Lorenzi to force a decisive fifth rubber that was played on Monday.
From two sets to love down, Fabio Fognini upset Pella in five sets. The Italian started in pedestrian form, sleepwalking through two sets, but Pella ran out of steam, and was unable to finish the match out, Pella went down a break against Fognini in the fifth, and despite having chances, he was unable to get it back.
Belgium d. Germany 4-1
Steve Darcis played nine sets of tennis in this tie, winning six of those sets, as the serve and volleying veteran led Belgium to an upset of neighboring Germany in Frankfurt. Darcis defeated Philipp Kohlschreiber in five sets on Friday, clinching the tie with an upset of Alexander Zverev in four sets on Sunday. Darcis pivotal leadership also helped Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore defeat the Zverev brothers in the doubles rubber. The only German victory came for Alexander Zverev on Friday over Arthur De Greef. Bemelmans beat Mischa Zverev in a dead rubber. Presuming David Goffin returns to play for Belgium, the recent DC finalists have the makings of a great team that can make a deep run.
Australia d. Czech Republic 4-1
Australia showed off a talented and deep squad, dominating the Czech Republic 3-0 in live rubbers as Jordan Thompson, Nick Kyrgios, Sam Groth/John Peers all won their matches without dropping so much of a set. Jiri Vesely lost to Thompson, Jan Satral lost to Kyrgios, and Satral and Vesely together dropped the decisive doubles point against Groth/Peers. Vesely beat Groth in a dead rubber, while Thompson eased past Satral in two sets to conclude the tie.
USA d. Switzerland 5-0
The lone round 1 whitewash came in Birmingham for team USA, as a weak Swiss team was no match for the USA’s best. Jack Sock beat Marco Chiudinelli in straights on Friday, while John Isner needed four sets and one tiebreak against Henri Laaksonen. Sock and Steve Johnson clinched the tie with a routine win over Laaksonen and Adrien Bossel, then Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson were called upon on Sunday to delight home fans with routine victories over Adrien Bossel and Antoine Bellier. Along with having five ATP caliber players, team USA showed off a lot of great team chemistry over the weekend.
France d. Japan 4-1
France swept Japan in live rubbers, as the experience of their squad shone through in two days of competitive action. Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon eased past Taro Daniel and Yoshihito Nishioka on Friday, setting up Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert to pair up and defeat Yasutaka Uchiyama and Yuichi Sugita to clinch the tie. Mahut and Herbert played dead rubbers against Nishioka and Uchiyama, splitting results.
Great Britain d. Canada 3-2
A horrible mistake by teenager Denis Shapovalov doomed Team Canada, as Great Britain had to scratch and claw to survive a tie that was more challenging than expected for the Brits. Dan Evans got the tie started off great for Team GB, easing past Shapovalov in straight sets. Vasek Pospisil had an impressive tie though, as he defeated Kyle Edmund in straights on Friday, and despite dropping the doubles rubber alongside Daniel Nestor to Dominic Inglot and Jamie Murray, Pospisil came back to defeat Evans in a close four setter to setup Shapovalov with a chance to clinch the tie at home at a young age.
Down two sets against Edmund, a frustrated Shapovalov launched a ball off his racquet towards the stands that nailed the chair umpire in the eye, sending the umpire to the hospital, and resulting in a mandatory default that handed team GB the tie. It was the talk of the weekend in the tennis world, but GB was likely to win the fifth rubber anyway, and Shapovalov clearly didn’t intend to inflict injury on anyone with his careless actions.
Serbia d. Russia 4-1
The combined strength of Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki was too much for a young Russian squad, as the Serbians won 3-0 on live rubbers. Troicki defeated Karen Khachanov in four sets, while Djokovic beat Daniil Medvedev in four on Friday. Troicki and Nenad Zimonjic wasted no time putting away Konstantin Kravchuk and Andrey Kuznetsov in the doubles rubber.
Nearly embarrassed, a higher ranked Spanish team staved off an upset at the hands of Croatia, thanks to Pablo Carreno Busta and Roberto Bautista Agut winning both Sunday rubbers. RBA was perfect in the tie, posting wins over Ante Pavic and Franko Skugor, dropping just a set against Skugor. Croatia was up 2-1 after Saturday play, as Marin Draganja and Nikola Mektic beat the Lopez brothers in doubles, while Skugor had previously stunned Carreno Busta on Friday. PCB recovered to ease past Mektic in the decisive fifth rubber.
Results outside of the World Group
Americas Group 1 final round ties were set, as Ecuador and Chile won their ties 5-0 to setup matches against Brazil and Chile respectively. India and Uzbekistan advanced to the final round in Asia’s Group 1, as South Korea was upset by Uzbekistan.
In Europe’s Group 1, Hungary upset Slovakia 3-1, Bosnia beat Poland, Belarus defeated Romania, and Portugal swept Israel. Group 2 saw Sweden upset Tunisia, Turkey defeat Cyprus, Georgia come back for a huge result against Finland, and Slovenia slip past Monaco. South Africa, Denmark, Norway, and Lithuania also advanced.
2016 Davis Cup World Group Round 1 Recap: Serbia Survives, Czechs and Americans Prevail Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
The Davis Cup World Group saw no opening round upsets this year, though a star studded Serbia team was put to the test against Kazakhstan. Here is a recap of all the weekend Davis Cup action.
Andy Murray nearly did it alone for team GB in Birmingham. The British #1 demolished Taro Daniel on Friday, then teamed with his brother Jamie to handle the Japanese doubles team of Yasutaka Uchiyama and Yoshihito Nishioka on Saturday. Kei Nishikori had beaten Dan Evans in a competitive three set contest on Friday to force competitive action on Saturday, but he would need to get past Murray to force a live fifth rubber.
Murray quickly build a two set lead, at which point Nishikori had his back against the wall. Kei forced a fifth set with improved play, but after five breaks of serve in the final set, Murray served the match out to win the tie. The fifth rubber was then canceled as Birmingham native Dan Evans was only needed once. Next for the defending champion Brits is team Serbia on the road.
Serbia d. Kazakhstan 3-2
Serbia had a top 20 doubles player,the world #1 singles player Novak Djokovic, and top 30 player Viktor Troicki on their squad. On paper, they should have swept at Kazakh team playing on the road without a top 50 player. When it came to the actual matches, the result ended up being quite different. Djokovic started the tie with a routine win over challenger veteran Aleksandr Nedovyesov in straight sets, but team leader Mikhail Kukushkin steadied his team and upset Viktor Troicki in straight sets to even the tie at 1-1 on Friday.
Andrey Golubev and Nedovyesov then combined to stun Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic for the biggest win of their career in doubles. Even more shockingly, the Golubev/Nedovyesov tandem got the job done in straight sets, as Djokovic was well off his game.
Facing elimination, Djokovic went up against Kukushkin in an all out war for the first three sets. Kukushkin won the first set in a tiebreak, lost the second set tiebreak, and then came back to win the third set, putting Serbia just a set away from elimination. Djokovic upped his game at that point however, overcoming any injury or rust he may be carrying to win the final two sets 6-3 6-2 and force a live fifth rubber.
Called on for the third time in the tie, Nedovyesov lost in straight sets to Troicki, who shook off his poor showing on Friday to erase any doubts of a Kazakh miracle win. Serbia still has some great players, but they won’t be able to afford to play so poorly against team GB in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, you have to admire the fight and warrior’s heart of the underdog Kazakh team.
Italy d. Switzerland 5-0
On indoor clay, Italy proved too much for a lowly ranked Swiss team. Marco Chiudinelli gave it his all in the opening tie, only to lose in a long fifth set to Paolo Lorenzi, a true dirtballing warrior. Andreas Seppi then finished off Henri Laaksonen in four competitive sets to give Italy a 2-0 lead.
In the final live rubber, Seppi and Simone Bolelli dominated an exhausted Chiudinelli/Laaksonen in straight sets to win the tie. In the dead rubbers, Lorenzi beat Davis Cup débutante Antoine Bellier, and Marco Cecchinato beat Adrien Bossel, both in straight sets. Italy will host Argentina in the quarterfinals.
Argentina d. Poland 3-2 (3-1 on live rubbers)
This tie was live on Sunday, but the Poles simply lacked the talent to defeat Argentina, even with the crowd behind them. The experienced Leonardo Mayer defeated Hubert Hurkacz, and Guido Pella defeated Michal Przysiezny in straight sets on Friday to give Argentina 2-0 lead. Poland then called on their veterans Marcin Matkowski and Lukasz Kubot to keep the tie alive, and they did so, defeating Carlos Berlocq and Renzo Olivo in four sets.
Mayer then defeated Przysiezny from a set down to win the tie, with Hurkacz winning his first Davis Cup rubber over Olivo in a dead fifth rubber. Argentina will travel to Italy for their next tie.
The Caribbean paradise of Guadeloupe saw the French tricolore waved proudly as a loaded French team dominated a weakened Canadian one without dropping a set. Gael Monfils demolished Frank Dancevic, and Gilles Simon outdueled Vasek Pospisil on clay to take a 2-0 lead on Friday. Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga then defeated Pospisil and Philip Bester to win the doubles rubber and capture the tie. Gasquet beat Bester in the dead fourth rubber, and Dancevic retired in the dead fifth rubber. France will next travel to the Czech Republic with a great chance to win the Davis Cup.
An injury to Tomas Berdych resulted in this tie going to a live fifth rubber, but young gun Alexander Zverev was the weak link for team Germany at home. Philipp Kohlschreiber lead the way for Germany, winning an opening fifth set match against Lukas Rosol. Berdych then fired back with a tough five set win over Zverev, who put his heart and soul into the match. Berdych and veteran Radek Stepanek won the doubles in straight sets over Kohlschreiber and veteran Philipp Petzschner.
In the live fourth rubber, Kohlschreiber won the first two sets over Berdych, who then promptly retired with an injury. That thrust Zverev into the spotlight against Rosol, but the big hitting Czech demolished him 6-2 6-3 6-1. Zverev was never really into the match, even though it should have been more competitive. The Czech Republic will host France next.
The unretirement of Lleyton Hewitt wasn’t enough to save Australia on grass against team USA in a battle between two of tennis’ historical giants. John Isner was the hero for team USA as the big server won matches over Sam Groth in straights on Friday, and Bernard Tomic in four sets on Sunday to clinch the tie. Isner had a surprisingly great return game on grass.
Tomic beat Jack Sock in four sets on Friday, and the Bryan Brothers beat John Peers, and Aussie captain Lleyton Hewitt in the doubles tie, though it went five sets, and Hewitt played quite well for a (just) retired player. Despite the leadership of Hewitt, the Australian team had a running spat all weekend about whether young gun Nick Kyrgios was fit enough to play and should have helped his country out. A frustrated Bernard Tomic accused Kyrgios of faking an injury in the match against Isner.
With the result, team USA will host Croatia in the quarterfinals.
Croatia d. Belgium 3-2
The young Borna Coric won a live fifth rubber to send Croatia into the quarterfinals of the World Group, and end the hopes of Belgium to reach the Davis Cup final once more. Coric lost his five set contest with David Goffin on Friday, though he battled to the end from 2 sets to love down. Marin Cilic beat Kimmer Coppejans in straight sets on Friday though to even the tie at 1-1.
Ivan Dodig and Franko Skugor then got the job done for Croatia over Ruben Bemelmans and Goffin. Goffin scored a minor upset over Cilic to force a live fifth rubber. With Bemelmans injured, Coppejans was called on again, and that was when Coric won in straight sets to send Croatia through.
Action outside the World Group
Wins for Ecuador and Chile in Americas Group 1 one set them up for battles with Brazil and Colombia respectively for a spot in the World Group Playoffs. India will face Korea, and China will face Uzbekistan in the final round of Asia’s Group 1. In Europe/Africa Group 1, Romania beat Slovenia, Dominic Thiem and Austria handled Portugal, Russia beat Sweden, and Hungary slipped past Israel. Romania hosts Spain, Ukraine hosts Austria, Russia hosts the Netherlands, and Hungary hosts Slovakia for spots in the World Group playoffs.
In notable Europe/Africa group 2 ties, Bosnia’s Mirza Basic won an 18-16 fourth set tiebreak and went on to lead his nation to a win over Malek Jaziri and Tunisia. Marsel Ilhan won twice to give Turkey a win over Bulgaria in a battle of neighbors in Ankara, Turkey.
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