CROATIA 3, KAZAKHSTAN 1 Venue: Varazdin Arena, Varazdin, CRO (clay - indoor) Croatia reached the Davis Cup World Group semi-finals for the second time in three years after World No. 3 Marin Cilic cruised past Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin 6-1, 6-1, 6-1. Cilic hit 31 winners to ease past Kukushkin, who scored the visiting nation’s only point on Friday, after two hours and one minute. Since losing to Juan Martin del Potro in the 2016 final, the Croatian No.1 has won all six matches he has played in the team event. [ALSO LIKE] The Australian Open finalist improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Kukushkin to 3-1. Croatia has now won six consecutive ties on clay, with its last loss on...
SPAIN 3, GERMANY 2 Venue: Plaza de Toros de Valencia, Valencia, ESP (clay- outdoor) World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and David Ferrer both scored wins on Sunday to overturn a 2-1 deficit against Germany, and book Spain’s place in the Davis Cup World Group semi-finals. To begin play on Sunday, Nadal forced a decisive fifth rubber by impressively defeating Germany’s Alexander Zverev 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in a battle between two players inside the Top 5 of the ATP Rankings. The Spaniard levelled the Davis Cup quarter-final tie against Germany at 2-2 after two hours and 16 minutes, breaking the 20-year-old on six occasions en route to his second three-set win in three days. Speaking on court after the crucial win, Nadal...
USA 3, BELGIUM 0 Venue: Curb Event Center, Nashville, USA (hard - indoor) The United States is the first team to advance to the semi-finals, eliminating defending Davis Cup finalist Belgium as Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock defeated Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen 5-7, 7-6(1), 7-6(3), 6-4 to clinch the tie, 3-0, on Saturday evening in three hours. "It feels great. My partner was awesome out there," Harrison said on court after the match. "I was up and down today and he was pretty consistent and helped me get through it. We have a great team. We have a lot of options that can really pull us through and I think we all do our part." The 32-time Davis Cup...
SPAIN 1, GERMANY 1 Venue: Plaza de Toros de Valencia, Valencia, ESP (clay- outdoor) World No. 1 Rafael Nadal returned to action for the first time since the Australian Open on Friday, beating Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in Valencia. The Spaniard hit 28 forehand winners throughout the two-hour, 33-minute clash at the bullring venue to score his 23rd consecutive Davis Cup singles victory and level the tie at 1-1. “It's positive of course, winning in straight sets,” Nadal told DavisCup.com. “It was a solid match. I feel comfortable back on the clay. ”It's always special to play at home at a bullring stadium, it's very unique. It's a great feeling to be back, coming back from injuries is...
ITALY 1, FRANCE 1 Venue: Valletta Cambiaso ASD, Genoa, ITA (clay - outdoor) Lucas Pouille withstood a strong comeback effort to beat Italy’s Andreas Seppi 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1 in Genoa. The World No. 11 began well, breaking six times en route to a two-set lead, but Seppi fought back in front of his home fans to force a decider. Not to be denied, Pouille re-established control and raced to victory in the fifth set to secure defending champion France a 1-0 lead. “The emotions are the maximum,” Pouille told DavisCup.com. “It's great to win that type of match. I was two sets up, he came back; that was so tough for me in the fourth set. I tried...