World No. 1 Novak Djokovic powered Serbia into the Davis Cup quarter-finals on Saturday, while France also advanced.
Djokovic’s Serbia took an unbeatable 3-0 lead over Croatia, while France ensured a victory over Germany in World Group first-round play.
There were early celebrations in Kralijevo after Djokovic came in as a last-minute doubles replacement for Viktor Troicki. He and Nenad Zimonjic convincingly beat Marin Draganja and Franko Skugor 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.
Photo: AFP
“We wanted to finish the job today, to take advantage of the fact that we won the first singles and that was done,” Djokovic said.
The Serbian pair held serve in the opening set before Davis Cup debutant Skugor cracked following a powerful Djokovic backhand down the middle.
In Frankfurt, France assured themselves of a quarter-final berth when Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut posted a 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 doubles success over Benjamin Becker and Andre Begemann.
“It’s been the perfect weekend in terms of results and for the doubles pairing,” said France captain Arnaud Clement, whose side lost the final last year on home soil against Switzerland. “We have seen in the past how difficult it can be for teams to play well again having reached the final the year before, so it was important to see the enthusiasm in this first match.”
In Liege, Belgian doubles pairing Ruben Bemelmans and Niels Desein saw off Adrien Bossel and Michael Lammer 1-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
Defending champions Switzerland face being dumped out of the team tournament in the first round as Belgium took a 2-1 advantage by winning the doubles in Liege.
The US kept their hopes alive against Great Britain in Glasgow, despite Mike and Bob Bryan, the top doubles team in the world, being pegged back to two sets all after winning the opening two frames against Jamie Murray and Dom Inglot.
The twins kept the Americans in the contest ahead of Sunday’s singles with a 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-7 (8/10), 9-7 victory.
Brazil seized a 2-1 lead in Buenos Aires after Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares defeated Diego Sebastian Schwartzman and Carlos Berlocq 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 in the doubles.
In Ostrava, the Czech Republic kept their hopes alive at 2-1, with Jiri Vesely and Adam Pavlasek beating Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt and Samuel Groth 1-6, 7-6 (7/2), 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 in the doubles.
Elsewhere Italy had a 2-1 lead over Russia in Almaty, while Canada were 2-1 up in Vancouver after Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil beat Japan’s Go Soeda and Yasutaka Uchiyama 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
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