What an amazing weekend for tennis with the Davis Cup quarterfinals as well as some entertaining zone group ties. Three of the four quarterfinals went live into Sunday and in each the country down 2-1 won the two reverse singles rubbers and advanced to the semis. There were some amazing upsets as France fell behind 2-0, Wawrinka lost, and a 17-yr-old stunned the world no. 21 in a zone group tie. Read more below.
World Group Quarterfinals
CZE 5 JPN 0 - The only quarterfinal that failed to have a live 5th rubber, this one was still not without drama. The Japanese B-team acquitted itself well with Ito losing a near 4 hour match to Stepanek and then 21-yr-old Daniel extending Rosol to 5 sets. But almost certainly doesn't count in Davis Cup tennis and the Czechs won the doubles to clinch the tie.
FRA 3 GER 2 - The Germans shocked the world with their B-team on day 1, winning both singles matches. Kamke upset Benneteau but then Gojowczyk took down Tsonga 8-6 in the 5th to put Germany up 2-0. But France didn't panic, Benneteau/Llodra won the doubles like they've oh so many times, Tsonga beat Kamke in straight sets and then Monfils came off the bench to win the 5th rubber over Gojowczyk.
ITA 3 GBR 2 - Murray and Fognini were each victorious to begin the tie and Fleming/Murray won the critical doubles and you thought Murray could clinch. But Fognini won perhaps his greatest victory, taking down Murray in straight sets, setting up Seppi to win a live 5th rubber over Ward.
SUI 3 KAZ 2 - The great Roger Federer did something we thought he'd never (even have the opportunity to) do: win a live 5th rubber. It came about because Golubev upset Wawrinka to open the tie. Federer restored order by beating Kukushkin in straight sets. Then the Olympic gold medalists lost to Golubev/Nedovyesov in doubles and the visitors had the lead. But despite all the success in the tie, the Kazakhs would still need to beat a top 5 singles player to win. Wawrinka dropped the first set to Kukushkin but didn't look back from the there, and the Swiss survived.
World Group Semifinals: Czech Republic at France, Italy at Switzerland
Europe/Africa Zonal Group I
Winners of Group I ties in all zones advance to World Group Playoffs
CRO 3 POL 1 - Janowicz playing at home for a spot in the playoffs for the first time in his career and he laid an egg. Cilic won the opening rubber but then 17-yr-old junior Aussie Open champ Coric stunned Janowicz in front of his home crowd, 6-4 in the 5th. The top flight doubles team of Fyrstenburg/Matkowski kept Poland alive, but only barely, surviving in 5 sets against unknown Draganja/Pavic to give Janowicz another chance. But Cilic beat him in 5 sets and Croatia will seek an immediate return to the World Group.
ISR 3 SLO 1 - Each Israeli team member picked up a point for the visitors. Weintraub got the tie off on the right foot, upsetting Kavcic, but then Sela lost to Rola. Erlich/Ram came through in the doubles and Sela clinched against Zemlja in the 4th rubber.
UKR 4 SWE 1 - The score doesn't really show how epic this tie was. Stakhovsky survived the first singles match against doubles specialist Brunstrom 13-11 in the 5th and Smirov won easily over the Swedish no. 1 Eriksson. The Swedes won the doubles in epic fashion, 10-8 in the 5th, and Brunstrom went deep on back-to-back day. But again the hosts got nothing from Eriksson as Stakhovsky beat him straight sets to return Ukraine to the playoffs.
SVK 4 AUT 1 - This was a sweep where nothing went right for the Austrians. The tie began with unknown Gombos upsetting rising star Thiem and then Lacko beat Haider-Maurer in 5 sets to put Slovakia up 2-0. They clinched in the doubles with Klizan/Mertinak.
Americas Zonal Group I
BRA 3 ECU 1 - Two wins for Dutra Silva, who is filling the no. 1 role this weekend for Brazil with Bellucci absent. One win for the standout doubles team of Melo/Soares. The only tie Brazil lost was a retirement by Clezar.
COL 4 DOM 1 - It was a long shot at best for the Dominicans but they laid it on the line. Both Estrella and Hernandez lost 6-2 in the 5th against Falla and Giraldo, and then the rising doubles team of Cabal/Farah clinched the tie for the hosts against the Dominican duo.
Asia/Pacific Zonal Group I
UZB 3 CHN 2 - China got a fantastic effort from Wu, who won both points, but the Uzbeks got perhaps a better won from Dustov who may have overshadowed Istomin. The latter survived in 5 sets over Zhang, but Wu beat Dustov 9-7 in the 5th in end the first day all square. The doubles turned out to be big, and Dustov/Istomin beat Gong/Li. Istomin had a chance to do what he usually does, clinch in the 4th rubber, winning 3 points, but Wu beat him to send the match to a 5th rubber. And that's where Dustov became the hero, besting Zhang in 5 sets.
IND 3 KOR 1 - Turned out Bhambri didn't play for India but Devvarman and the doubles (Bopanna/Myneni) were all the needed against South Korea.
World Group Playoff Teams (draw Wednesday): Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, India, Israel, Netherlands, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine, United States, Uzbekistan
-Several teams coming down from the World Group to play haven't been in the playoffs for awhile: ARG (2001!), SRB (2009), USA (2010)
-And likewise some of the teams coming up from the zones, most have been the recently but it's been since 2008 for SVK
Europe/Africa Zonal Group II
Semifinals
LTU 3 RSA 2 - The two man team of Berankis and Grigelis beat South Africa's patched together team, winning both singles matches on Sunday to advance. There will be no immediate return to Group I for South Africa. Berankis beat J.Andersen and de Voest (who beat Grigelis on day 1) while Grigelis clinched over Roelfse in the 5th rubber. The South Africans won the doubles behind J.Andersen/Klaasen.
BIH 3 FIN 2 - The story of this tie was world no. 221, 22-yr-old Mirza Basic, who stunned Nieminen in 5 sets on day 1 to put Bosnia up 2-0 after Dzumhur won the opening match. Nieminen charged back, winning in the doubles and over Dzumhur to tie the tie. But that only allowed more heroics for Basic, who came from 2 sets down to beat Paukku in the 5th rubber.
MDA 4 BLR 1 - The only tie Belarus won was with Mirnyi in the doubles. Albot and Dubarenco march on.
FIN 5 DEN 0 - Without Muller, the Luxembourghers had little hope, especially with Nielsen present for the Danes.
Promotion ties: Lithuania at Bosnia & Herzegovina, Moldova at Denmark
Relegation ties
MON 5 NOR 0
BUL 4 GRE 1 - A sweep for Dimitrov and Kutrovsky, who each won 2 points. Kudos to Dimitrov for showing up at such a low level tie
IRL 3 EGY 2 - McGee won both his singles for Ireland, with a mild upset over Safwat in the 4th rubber.
MAR 4 CYP 1 - An enigmatic performance by 18-yr-old Kyratzis for Cyprus. First he beat Khaddari, a player ranked 1000 places above him to open the tie. But then was triple bageled by Ouahab as the Moroccan clinched the tie in the 4th rubber.
Egypt, Greece, and Norway make an immediate return to Group III. Morocco was able to fend off the return trip, instead relegating Cyprus, who thanks to occasional appearance by Baghdatis, hasn't played in Group III since 2005.
Americas Zonal Group II
Semifinals
BAR 4 ESA 1 - El Salvador was hurt by an injury to M.Arevalo, which results in 3 points for top 400 player King of Barbados. The island nation continues their unprecedented run and is now only one win from Group I.
MEX 3 PER 2 - Reyes-Varela won 3 points for the hosts, teaming with Gonzalez in the doubles, and clinching in the 4th rubber.
Promotion tie: Mexico at Barbados
Relegation ties
CHI 5 PAR 0 - Chile averts further Davis Cup disaster in a big way as each team member (Lama, Garin, Aguilar/Capdeville) wins a live rubber.
BOL 3 GUA 1 - Dellien wins 3 points for the hosts.
Paraguay makes an immediate return to Group III, but Bolivia avoided the same fate, instead sending down Guatemala, who will play at Group III after two years in Group II.
Asia/Pacific Zonal Group II
Semifinals
PAK 3 PHI 2 - The Pakistanis came back from 2-0 down, getting a win from tour doubles specialist Qureshi in the 5th rubber. He went 2-0 in the tie, also winning the doubles but didn't play singles on day 1.
THA 4 KUW 1 - The tie began with a triple bagel by 18-yr-old world no. 817 Isarow and concluded with him clinching for his 3rd point.
Promotion tie: Pakistan at Thailand
Relegation ties
SRI 3 VIE 2 - Godamanna won 3 points for the visitors including the live 5th rubber in a tie where each match was straight sets.
HKG at INA - Postponed
Vietnam makes an immediate return to Group III. Hong Kong will strive to avoid the same fate in 3 weeks.
Live 5th Rubbers
-World Group QF: Gael Monfils (FRA) def. Peter Gojowcyzk (GER) 6-1 7-6 6-2
-World Group QF: Andreas Seppi (ITA) def. James Ward (GBR) 6-4 6-3 6-4
-World Group QF: Roger Federer (SUI) def. Andrey Golubev (KAZ) 7-6 6-2 6-3
-Asia/Pacific Zonal Group I promotion round: Farrukh Dustov (UZB) def. Ze Zhang (CHN) 6-2 1-6 6-3 6-7 6-3
-Europe/Africa Zonal Group II semifinals: Mirza Basic (BIH) def. Juho Paukku (FIN) 3-6 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-4
-Asia/Pacific Zonal Group II semifinals: Aisam Qureshi (PAK) def. Patrick-John Tierro (PHI) 6-2 6-3 3-6 6-4
-Asia/Pacific Zonal Group II relegation round: Harshana Godamanna (SRI) def. Minh-Quan Do (VIE) 6-3 7-5 6-0
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