AUSTRALIA 1, GERMANY 2 Venue: Pat Rafter Arena, Brisbane, AUS (hard- outdoor) After a change of nomination, Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff teamed up with Tim Puetz to move their nation one win away from a place in the quarter-finals after beating Australia’s Matthew Ebden and John Peers 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-2, 6-7(7), 6-4. Struff, who lost in three sets to Nick Kyrgios on Friday, replaced Peter Gojowczyk in the third rubber and it proved to be a masterstroke from captain Michael Kohlmann as the visitors won in a dramatic five-set encounter. Puetz and Struff hit 55 winners and made just 12 unforced errors in the rubber, which lasted nearly three and a half hours, to give Alexander Zverev a chance to book...
FRANCE 1, NETHERLANDS 1 Venue: Halle Olympique, Albertville, FRA (hard - indoor) Frenchman Richard Gasquet, competing in his 23rd Davis Cup singles rubber, drew France level at 1-1 against the Netherlands with a 6-4, 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-5 win against Robin Haase. Gasquet hit 37 winners, including 21 from his backhand, to avoid an 0-2 start for France, the defending Davis Cup champions. Earlier in the day, because of injuries to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (knee) and Lucas Pouille (neck), Davis Cup debutant Adrian Mannarino opened play for the 10-time champions. The 29-year-old, who was training in Malta on Thursday morning, was beaten by World No. 369 Thiemo de Bakker 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-3. De Bakker admitted being surprised at France’s late player substitution, but...
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...
FRANCE 3, BELGIUM 2 Lille, France (Indoor Hard) If Lucas Pouille was nervous competing in a live Davis Cup fifth rubber for the first time, he certainly didn’t show it. Pouille clinched France’s 10th Davis Cup title with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-0 victory over Belgium’s Steve Darcis in Lille, France, giving his country a 3-2 win in the tie. "There are no words needed," Pouille said. "Just look at the atmosphere and the emotion... I'm just so proud of my team. We really wanted this trophy and finally we got it after 16 years. I'm very happy." The Frenchman entered the match having lost his past two Davis Cup matches, including a one-hour, 59-minute defeat at the hands of David...