Tomas Berdych had enough energy left after a record-setting doubles match to put defending champions Czech Republic into the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup on Sunday, while Italy beat Croatia in the decisive singles match to also advance from the first round.
However, Spain will not have a chance to win a sixth title after their short-handed team lost to Canada, which reached the quarter-finals for the first time.
Berdych returned to the court after he and Lukas Rosol won an epic seven-hour match on Saturday — the longest in the history of the Davis Cup — and needed just more than three hours this time to beat Stanislas Wawrinka 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (5) and give the Czechs an insurmountable 3-1 lead.
The win for the Czechs set up a quarter-final against Kazakhstan, which ousted Austria after Andrey Golubev beat Jurgen Melzer 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the first reverse singles for a 3-1 lead.
Italy advanced after Fabio Fognini won the fifth and decisive match in front of the home crowd, beating beat Ivan Dodig 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to give Italy a 3-2 win over Croatia and send his country to the quarter-finals for the first time in 15 years.
“It was a crazy victory, but everyone always says I’m crazy,” Fognini said.
Italy will play Canada, after 15th-ranked Milos Raonic defeated No. 82 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 in the opening reverse singles match to give his country a 3-1 lead.
Five-time champions Spain were missing Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer and Nicolas Almagro because of injuries and fatigue, and Canada had taken a 2-0 lead in Friday’s singles before losing the doubles.
The US progressed with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Brazil.
Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci fought back to beat John Isner 2-6, 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-3 and force the tie into a decisive fifth rubber before Sam Querrey clinched it for the hosts with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3).
The US will host Serbia in the next round after the Serbs beat Belgium 3-2. Argentina completed a 5-0 rout of Germany and France swept Israel by the same score.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
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