Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Davis Cup 2017: Spain through while rain prevents Argentina and Italy from finishing

Spain
Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta celebrates after winning his singles rubber

Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta swept past Croatian journeyman Nikola Mektic in straight sets to clinch a 3-2 victory on Sunday and set up a mouth-watering Davis Cup quarter-final clash with Novak Djokovic's Serbia.

Carreno Busta defeated world No 319 Mektic 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 6-4 in the deciding rubber in Osijek as five-time champions Spain rallied from a 2-1 overnight deficit to knock out last year's finalists.

Roberto Bautista Agut had earlier fought off a spirited challenge from Franko Skugor, winning 6-1 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 7-6 (8-6) in the first reverse singles to level the contest.

"I'm very happy. Roberto was exceptional to get two points," said 26th-ranked Carreno Busta, who atoned for Friday's shock loss to world No 223 Skugor in the opening singles rubber.

"I have had some beautiful experiences this weekend and hope for more of the same in the future."

Rafael Nadal sat out this weekend's tie after reaching the final of last month's Australian Open, but the 14-time Grand Slam champion could well return for a showdown with former world No 1 Djokovic in April.

Serbia swept to a 4-1 victory over Russia as Dusan Lajovic beat Konstantin Kravchuk 6-3 4-6 6-3 in a truncated fourth rubber before the hosts conceded the final match.

#ARGITA The fifth rubber between 🇦🇷 and 🇮🇹 will resume tomorrow at 11:00 local time (14:00 GMT) pic.twitter.com/x2uTtf1xN4

— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) February 5, 2017

Heavy rain in Buenos Aires interrupted Sunday's clash between Argentina's Carlos Berlocq and Paolo Lorenzo of Italy for a second time, with the former leading 4-6 6-4 6-1 1-4 in the fourth set.

Holders Argentina were trailing 2-1 overnight and are without Juan Martin del Potro and Federico Delbonis, the men who won the reverse singles to beat Croatia in last year's final.

WATCH: Tennis umpire hit by ball

WATCH: Denis Shapovalov hits umpire Arnaud Gabas with ball in Davis Cup

In Frankfurt, Steve Darcis knocked off German teenager Alexander Zverev in four sets to send Belgium into the quarter-finals and a potential showdown with the reigning champions.

Darcis, who famously dumped Rafael Nadal out of Wimbledon in 2013, dropped the first set to 19-year-old Zverev before rallying for a 2-6 6-4 6-4 7-6 (10-8) win to hand Belgium an unassailable 3-1 lead.

The Belgians, who were playing without world No 11 David Goffin, then completed the job with Rubel Bemelmans brushing aside Mischa Zverev 7-5 6-1.

The United States, the 32-time champions, recorded a whitewash over Switzerland in Birmingham, Alabama, as Sam Querrey saw off Adrien Bossel 6-3 7-5 before Steve Johnson eased past Antoine Bellier 6-4 6-3.

Australia, the 28-time champions, rounded out a 4-1 win over the Czech Republic after Jordan Thompson earned his second point of the weekend with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 victory over Jan Satral while France wrapped up a 4-1 first-round victory over Japan in Tokyo to set up a meeting with Great Britain.

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