World Group
CZE 3 NED 2 - Berdych won 3 points for the Czechs after Haase had put the Dutch on the board first with a win over Stepanek. Berdych/Stepanek beat Haase/Rojer in 4 sets in the doubles to set up Berdych's win over de Bakker, who curiously stepped in for Haase in the 4th rubber.
JPN 4 CAN 1 - Both Raonic and Pospisil were injured leaving Canada with little hope. But then Dancevic stepped up against Soeda to give the visitor's hope. However, Nishikori would win 3 points for Japan including partnering Uchiyama to beat Dancevic/Nestor in the doubles, a rare loss for Nestor which spoiled any hope for an upset. Japan is through to their first ever quarterfinals.
GER 4 ESP 1 - Spain struggles in road ties because it is played on hard courts and their top players don't show up. Kohlschreiber began by beating Bautista-Agut then Mayer fended off Lopez in 5 sets to set up Haas/Kohlschreiber clinching in the doubles over a good team in Marrero/Verdasco. For a second straight, Spain will play in the playoffs. They rode a multitude of home ties to there titles, so now they have been playing several road ties.
FRA 5 AUS 0 - France is a legitimate contender this year, and it showed with a seemingly easy win over Australia, playing without Tomic. Gasquet and Tsonga did all the live damage, knocking off Kyrgios, Hewitt, and Guccione/Hewitt.
GBR 3 USA 1 - A depressing tie for American tennis fans. First Isner had to pull out with his ankle injury and then Querrey blew a 2-1 and break advantage to Ward. Ward upset Querrey and the Brits led 2-0 following substitute Young only getting 6 games off Murray. The Bryans ended their losing streak in doubles but then Murray beat Querrey in 4 sets to send the British to the quarters.
ITA 3 ARG 1 - Fognini was the hero for the Italians on the road, winning 3 points. Berlocq began well for the hosts, beating Seppi, but then Fognini took down Monaco, teamed with Bolelli to beat Schwank/Zeballos, and then clinched against Berlocq.
KAZ 3 BEL 2 - This was the only tie to go live into the 5th rubber. The Kazakhs went up 2-0 after day 1 when Golubev def. Goffin 12-10 in the 5th. But the Belgians came back with a win in doubles then Goffin fended off Kukushkin's clinching effort in 5 sets. That only set up Golubev in clinch the tie in a live 5th rubber, defeating Bemelmens who had played all 3 days, with the loss of only 6 games.
SUI 3 SRB 2 - This was a sweep after Federer and Wawrinka each won singles match on day 1. They then watched from sidelines as Chiudinelli/Lammer clinched over Krajinovic/Zimonjic. Each Swiss won one point, and this could be a magical Davis Cup season for them with 2 top 10 players.
World Group Quarterfinals: Czech Republic at Japan, Germany at France, Great Britain at Italy, Kazakhstan at Switzerland
Europe/Africa Zonal Group I
POL 3 RUS 2 - Poland showed off its 1-2 punch in this tie with Janowicz and Fyrstenberg/Matkowski. Janowicz beat the youngster Khachanov to begin the tie and then clinched in straight sets over Tursunov, who won the only live point for Russia. The Polish doubles duo beat Khachanov/Kravchuk to set up Janowicz.
SLO 3 POR 2 - Kavcic won 3 points for the host Slovenes including the clincher in the 4th rubber. J.Sousa had gotten the visitors off to good start by winning the opening rubber.
UKR 3 ROU 1 - Turns out Stakhovsky to did show up for this tie and he won both his singles including the clincher over Hanescu in 4 sets. Marchenko put the Ukrainians up 2-0 by beating Hanescu on day 1 but Copil/Tecau kept the tie live in the doubles.
SVK 5 LAT 0 - Without Gulbis, Latvia had little hope here. They did show some mettle though with Juska falling 8-6 in the 5th to Klizan. Each Slovakian - Lacko, Klizan, and Martin/Mertinak - won a live rubber.
Promotional Round: Croatia at Poland (blockbuster!), Israel at Slovenia, Ukraine at Sweden, Austria at Slovakia
Americas Zonal Group I
ECU 3 VEN 2 - Ecuador pulls an upset at home by beating the top player in the tie, Venezuelan Souto twice. Gomez clinched the tie in the 4th rubber by beating Souto with the loss of just 3 games
DOM 4 URU 0 - The good story of 33-yr-old Estrella continues with a beat down of Uruguay. This was the first ever Group I win for the Dominicans.
Promotional Round: Brazil at Ecuador, Dominican Republic at Colombia
Asia/Pacific Zonal Group I
CHN 3 NZL 1 - I covered this earlier, but a spirited Kiwi effort came up short as a combined 14 sets were played in 3 live singles rubbers.
IND 5 TPE 0 - With the rise of Bhambri, India now has 2 top 200 singles players to go along with their doubles prowess. Each team member won a live rubber, the highlight was Devvarman def. Chen 9-7 in the 5th.
Promotional Round: Uzbekistan at China, India at South Korea
Europe/Africa Zonal Group II
RSA 3 MON 2 - The 5th rubber was dead, but this turned out be a highly competitive tie with 3 5-setters. Arneodo upset de Voest, ranked 350 places above him in 5 sets to open the tie. But then Scholtz returned the favor, taking down Balleret, who is ranked nearly 700 places above him, also in 5 sets. The South Africans won the doubles in 5 sets. Then in the match that should have been most competitive, de Voest clinched over Balleret in straights. Each South African scored a point.
LTU 5 NOR 0 - Berankis and Grigelis each won singles then teamed up to win the doubles.
FIN 3 BUL 2 - Nieminen won 3 points for the hosts against a Bulgarian team playing without Dimitrov. However, the world no. 472 Kutrovsky gave Nieminen a run, falling in 5 sets.
BIH 3 GRE 1 - Bosnia is a team with some potential moving forward, but they were nearly halted here when Dzumhur was upset on day 1 by 19-yr-old world no. 691 Kalovelonis. Bosnia won the doubles, then Dzumhur redeemed himself but only barely, clinching in 5 sets over Jakupovic.
BLR 4 IRL 1 - Belarus swept Ireland away, and surprisingly the closest rubber with Bury/Mirnyi def. Cluskey/O'Hare 6-7 7-6 5-7 7-6 6-2
MDA 4 EGY 1 - Albot reeled off 3 straight points for Moldova after Safwat beat Dubarenco in the opening rubber
LUX 3 MAR 2 - Muller won 3 points for the visiting Luxembourghers, and did it without dropping a set
DEN 4 CYP 1 - Cyprus just can't do much without Baghdatis
Group semifinals: Lithuania at South Africa, Bosnia & Herzegovina at Finland, Belarus at Moldova, Luxembourg at Denmark. All the seeded advanced.
Relegation round: Monaco at Norway, Bulgaria at Greece, Egypt at Ireland, Cyprus at Morocco
Americas Zonal Group II
BAR 3 CHI 2 - Well it happened, and in just 4 rubbers too. World no. 459 King won 3 points for Barbados and Chilean tennis reaches a new low. Lama did win the opening rubber. Chile was in the World Group quarters in '10 and now lost a tie in Group II for the first time ever.
ESA 3 PAR 2 - The Arevalo brothers swept the Paraguayans before their backups were beaten on a dead Sunday.
PER 3 BOL 2 - Finally a live 5th rubber to discuss, and in 5 sets no less. Peru was down 2-1 after day 2 but came back with wins by Echazu and then Galdos in 5th rubber, defeating F.Zeballos 6-1 in the 5th.
MEX 3 GUA 2 - And here's another live 5th rubber. Diaz-Figueroa won both his singles for Guatemala but lost in the doubles. That prolonged the tie and allowed Gallardo-Valles to defeat Ramazzini in the 5th rubber. Amazingly, Gallardo-Valles lost only 2 games in the decider.
Group semifinals: El Salvador at Barbados, Peru at Mexico.
Relegation round: Paraguay at Chile, Bolivia at Guatemala
Asia/Pacific Zonal Group II
PHI 3 SRI 1 - Huey and Gonzales each won 2 points
KUW 3 INA 2 - Kuwait won the first 3 singles matches to clinch in a fairly big upset, but Indonesia was playing without Rungkat.
The PAK/VIE and HKG/THA ties were postponed due to the Chinese new year.
And that's that, the opening weekend of Davis Cup in the books, and plenty more action to be played out later in the year with several good story lines even below the World Group.
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