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...
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...
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...
FRANCE 3, SERBIA 1 Lille, France (Outdoor Clay) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga provided the heroics on Sunday afternoon in Lille, giving France an unassailable 3-1 lead in their Davis Cup semi-final tie against Serbia. The French No. 1 rallied past Dusan Lajovic 2-6, 6-2, 7-6(5), 6-2, claiming his 20th singles victory in his Davis Cup career. Lajovic had stunned Lucas Pouille to open the tie on Friday, but was unable to replicate the upset. Tsonga prevailed after two hours and 48 minutes, firing 38 winners including eight aces. It was sweet revenge for Les Bleus, who were defeated by Serbia in the 2010 final. Under the captaincy of Yannick Noah, the French squad will appear in its first final since 2014. They...
BELGIUM 1, AUSTRALIA 2 Brussels, Belgium (Indoor Clay) John Peers and Jordan Thompson completed a 6-3, 6-4, 6-0 rout of Ruben Bemelmans and Arthur De Greef to nudge Australia ahead of Belgium 2-1 in their semi-final tie. Led by captain Lleyton Hewitt, the Aussie contingent are bidding to reach the Davis Cup final for the first time since 2003, when they clinched their 28th crown. Peers, the No. 2 player in the Emirates ATP Doubles Rankings, and 23-year-old Thompson were making their doubles debut together. Thompson is undefeated in the team competition, also owning a 3-0 singles record entering the week. "We had a job to do today and we came out and did it from start to finish," said...