AUSTRALIA 1, GERMANY 1 Venue: Pat Rafter Arena, Brisbane, AUS (hard- outdoor) Australia, the 28-time champion, is level at 1-1 with three-time winner Germany after the opening singles rubbers on Friday. World No. 5 Alexander Zverev was pushed all the way by Sydney International finalist Alex de Minaur before prevailing 7-5, 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in just under four hours. The German No. 1 trailed by two sets to one and found himself down 0-3 (40-A) when serving in the decider, but found a way back into the match and secured a vital first point for the visiting nation with a final-set tie-break win. "I hope that will be the deciding point to get the win,” said Zverev. “We need...
AUSTRALIA vs. GERMANY Brisbane, Australia (Outdoor Hard) Australia and Germany meet in a repeat of the 1993 Davis Cup final (Germany d. Australia) in Brisbane this weekend. World No. 5 Alexander Zverev leads a German team looking to win just its second World Group opener since 2011 and will be joined by Jan-Lennard Struff, Peter Gojowczyk and Tim Puetz. The home side, which has reached the World Group semi-finals twice in the past three years, is spearheaded by Nick Kyrgios with Matthew Ebden, John Millman, breakout star Alex de Minaur and John Peers completing the team. FRANCE vs. NETHERLANDS Albertville, France (Indoor Hard) Defending champion France will look to win their 11th tie in 11 meetings against the Netherlands this...
GERMANY 1, BELGIUM 4 Venue: Fraport Arena, Frankfurt, Germany (Indoor Hard) Steve Darcis' Davis Cup legend continues to grow, as the Belgian stalwart provided the heroics once again for the European nation. Darcis improved to an impressive 21-8 in Davis Cup singles play with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(8) upset of Alexander Zverev in Sunday's fourth rubber, sending Belgium into the quarter-finals. The 32 year old's second straight Top 30 win comes on the heels of a five-set victory over Philipp Kohlschreiber to open the tie on Friday. Previously, Darcis was 0-9 against Top 30 opponents since stunning Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2013. "You never know in Davis Cup," said Darcis. "They said it would be an easy match...
CROATIA 2, SPAIN 3 Venue: Gradski Vrt Hall, Osijek, Croatia (hard - indoor) No Rafael Nadal, no David Ferrer, no problem for Spain. The European nation overcame a 1-2 deficit to advance to the Davis Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 2012. Roberto Bautista Agut survived Franko Skugor 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-6(6) in the fourth rubber, followed by a 7-6(4), 6-1, 6-4 victory for Pablo Carreno Busta over Nikola Mektic in the decider. "I felt a lot of pressure closing out the match but I kept going," said Bautista Agut. "It was a tough tie-break but I closed it. It's much more difficult in the Davis Cup. The crowd is supporting them a lot, but these are good things...
SERBIA 3, RUSSIA 0 Venue: Cair Sports Center, Nis, Serbia (Indoor Hard) Viktor Troicki was the hero in Serbia's title-clinching run in 2010 and the 30 year old is once again thriving in Davis Cup play. The Serbians are back in the quarter-finals for the third straight year after Troicki and former doubles No. 1 Nenad Zimonjic defeated Russians Konstantin Kravchuk and Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3, 7-6(3), 6-7(5), 6-4. The win also gives Zimonjic his first victory as Davis Cup captain. The home nation converted eight of 18 break chances during the three-hour and nine-minute encounter. Troicki is the marathon man of the tie after overcoming #NextGenATP star Karen Khachanov in a fifth-set tie-break on Friday afternoon in Nis. Also led...