Italy reach last eight in Davis Cup Finals, wins for Russia and Britain
Favourites Russia Tennis Federation
opened their Davis Cup Finals campaign with a resounding victory over Ecuador,
Britain began with a win against France and Italy eased into the quarter-finals
with a win over Colombia on Saturday.
But 28-time champions Australia are
facing almost certain elimination despite beating Hungary 2-1.
Novak Djokovic's Serbia were beaten
2-1 by Germany in Group F as the world number one lost a thrilling doubles
decider, meaning they must wait until Sunday's final round-robin matches before
knowing whether or not they progress.
The Russians beat Ecuador 3-0 in
Madrid to move level with holders Spain whom they face on Sunday to decide who
will emerge as winners of Group A.
World number five Andrey Rublev beat
Roberto Quiroz 6-3 4-6 6-1 before U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev crushed
world number 149 Emilio Gomez for the loss of two games.
Rublev then teamed up with Aslan
Karatsev to beat Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo in three sets.
Italy, who beat the U.S. in their
opening Group E tie, won both their singles matches against Colombia in Turin
with victories for Lorenzo Sonego and Jannik Sinner.
Britain were given a fast start
against France in Group C with Dan Evans beating Adrian Mannarino 7-5 6-4.
Cameron Norrie then defeated Arthur
Rinderknech 6-2 7-6(8) after coming back from 1-4 down in an absorbing
tiebreak.
France won the doubles as
Rinderknech, a late replacement for Pierre-Hugues Herbert, joined Nicolas Mahut
to beat Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski 6-1 6-4 -- a win that could prove vital
for France who had beaten the Czech Republic.
Britain play the Czechs on Sunday
with top spot at stake.
Djokovic was made to work overtime
in Serbia's clash with Germany in Innsbruck where fans are not permitted.
After team mate Filip Krajinovic
lost 7-6(4) 6-4 to Dominik Koepfer, Djokovic levelled the tie with a
comfortable win against Jan-Lennard Struff.
Djokovic returned to court to
partner Nikola Cacic but Serbia's hopes of progressing as group winners were
dashed as the Serbian pair lost 7-6 3-6 7-6 to Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz
despite being a break ahead in the decider.
Serbia, who beat Austria 3-0 in
their opening Group F tie, must now wait until Germany's clash with Austria on
Sunday to learn their fate although they are well placed to progress as one of
the best runners-up.
Eighteen teams are competing in six
round-robin groups across three cities for places in the last eight which begin
on Monday. Six group winners and the two best runners-up advance.
The ties in Innsbruck are being
played behind closed doors due to Austria's reintroduction of a COVID-19
lockdown while those in Madrid and Turin have less-than-capacity attendances.
AUSTRALIA ON THE BRINK
Australia beat Hungary 2-1 in Turin
but finished their Group D campaign with a 2-4 record having lost 3-0 loss to
Croatia in their opening match on Thursday.
Australia went 1-0 down against Hungary
when Zsombor Piros, ranked 282nd in the world, claimed the biggest win of his
career by beating John Millman 4-6 6-4 6-3.
Lleyton Hewitt's Australia finally
claimed their first victory of the tournament when Alex de Minaur came through
a three-hour match to beat Marton Fucsovics 7-5 2-6 7-6(2).
The doubles pairing of Alex Bolt and
John Peers sealed the tie when they beat the Hungarian duo 6-3 6-7(11) 6-3.
Hungary face Croatia on Sunday.
In Madrid, Kazakhstan beat Sweden
2-1 in Group B with their doubles pairing of Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr
Nedovyesov sealing victory after Swede Elias Ymer and Kazakh Alexander Bublik
won their singles rubbers.
Sweden remain top of the group,
having beaten Canada 3-0 but Kazakhstan can win it with a victory over Canada
on Sunday.