Colombia Beats 2016 Champs Argentina To Reach Davis Cup Finals

COLOMBIA defeats ARGENTINA 3-1
Venue: Palacio de los Deportes, Bogotá, COL (clay – indoor)

Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, the 2019 year-end No. 1 doubles team, won a tight doubles rubber on Saturday before Daniel Elahi Galan finished the job for the home country, defeating 2016 champions Argentina to reach the Davis Cup Finals.

Cabal and Farah broke a 1-1 split in the tie with a 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-5 victory against veterans Maximo Gonzalez and Horacio Zeballos to give Colombia the advantage. Gonzalez and Zeballos triumphed at 2019 Buenos Aires and reached another two ATP Tour finals together last year, and they put up a big battle against the Colombians. But Cabal and Farah did not face a break point in their victory, setting the stage for Galan.

The World No. 148 defeated Juan Ignacio Londero 6-3, 6-4 in 75 minutes to clinch the tie for his country. Galan also won his first singles rubber of the weekend on Friday, beating Santiago Giraldo.

USA defeats UZBEKISTAN 4-0
Venue: Neal S. Blaisdell Center, Honolulu, USA (hard – indoor)

Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan rejoined the American Davis Cup team for one final tie before retiring at this year’s US Open. The twins went out in style, sending the Americans to Madrid with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Sanjar Fayziev and Denis Istomin.

“We’re always happy to do our job,” Mike Bryan told DavisCup.com. “To clinch a tie? We’ve only had that opportunity a few times in our career. That felt really good. You don’t get to run around with the flag on court at home very often.”

The Bryan Brothers are gathering momentum in their final season, recently lifting the trophy at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com.

Tommy Paul, who was the only American to not yet see action, completed the 4-0 sweep with a 6-3, 6-0 triumph in the dead singles rubber against Istomin.

CROATIA defeats INDIA 3-1
Venue: Dom Sportova, Zagreb, CRO (hard – indoor)

Forty-six-year-old Leander Paes and countryman Rohan Bopanna won a thrilling doubles rubber on Saturday to keep India’s hopes alive, beating Croatia’s Mate Pavic and Franko Skugor 6-3, 6-7(9), 7-5. But it was not enough.

Marin Cilic sealed the tie for his country, routing Sumit Nagal 6-0, 6-1 to give Croatia an insurmountable 3-1 lead. The tie’s final rubber was not played. Cilic only lost eight service points in the match, breaking serve five times en route to a 56-minute victory. 

AUSTRALIA defeats BRAZIL 3-1
Venue: Memorial Drive Tennis Club, Adelaide, AUS (hard – outdoor)

Brazil put forth a valiant effort, wrestling the doubles point from Australia in Adelaide to begin play on Saturday. But John Millman refused to let down his country.

World No. 43 Millman clawed past Thiago Monteiro 6-7(6), 7-6(3), 7-6(3) to clinch Australia’s 3-1 win in the tie. It was the second time Millman had to win a second-set tie-break to force a decider in two days, but the 30-year-old came through once again.

“It was something pretty special this weekend and I enjoyed every second of it,” Millman told DavisCup.com. “It was so much fun, emotional roller-coaster, and so happy to get through and do it with these boys.”

Earlier in the day, Marcelo Demoliner and Felipe Meligeni Rodrigues Alves beat James Duckworth and John Peers 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(6) to keep Brazil’s hopes alive. 

AUSTRIA defeats URUGUAY 3-1
Venue: Steiermarkhalle Schwarzlsee, Graz I Premstätten, AUT (hard – indoor) 

Austrian doubles stalwarts Oliver Marach and Jurgen Melzer gave their country the edge against Uruguay to begin Saturday’s action in front of their home fans, and in-form Dennis Novak finished off the visitors.

Marach and Melzer rallied past Ariel Behar and Pablo Cuevas 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in two hours and five minutes, converting the only break point they earned in the third set. Then Novak, who is at a career-high World No. 85, came back to beat Cuevas 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Novak defeated both Cuevas brothers in singles this weekend, easing past Martin Cuevas on Friday.

ECUADOR defeats JAPAN 3-0
Venue: Bourbon Beans Dome, Miki, JPN (hard – indoor)

Ecuador was the first country to win its Davis Cup Qualifier, beating Japan 3-0. Gonzalo Escobar and Diego Hidalgo clinched the tie with a 7-6(3), 6-3 victory against 2017 Tokyo champions Ben Mclachlan/Yasutaka Uchiyama.

Ecuador sprinted to the lead on Friday when Emilio Gomez and Roberto Quiroz both secured singles triumphs. There were no fans in the crowd for this tie as a precautionary measure due to the coronavirus.

SWEDEN defeats CHILE 3-1
Venue: The Royal Tennis Hall (Kungl. Tennishallen), Stockholm, SWE (hard – indoor)

Two generations of Swedish players led their country to the Davis Cup Finals on Saturday. Entering the day, Sweden and Chile were level at 1-1. But 42-year-old Robert Lindstedt and 30-year-old Markus Eriksson beat Chileans Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera and Alejandro Tabilo (CHI) 6-4, 6-4 to give the home side the advantage.

2019 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor Mikael Ymer, 21, then rallied for a tie-clinching 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 win against Tabilo. Tabilo beat the older Ymer brother, Elias Ymer, on Friday. But Mikael broke three times in the second set to turn the tide and then converted his only opportunity in the decider to triumph.

HUNGARY defeats BELGIUM 3-2
Venue: Fonix Hall, Debrecen, HUN (clay – indoor)

Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen scored a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 win against Attila Balazs and Marton Fucsovics to give Belgium a 2-1 lead on Saturday, but the Hungarians stormed back for a 3-2 victory in the tie.

Balazs levelled the tie by cruising past Kimmer Coppejans 6-3, 6-0, overcoming the disappointment of not only the doubles loss, but a Friday singles loss. That set the stage for a deciding rubber in which Fucsovics fought past Ruben Bemelmans 6-7(7), 6-4, 6-2.

ITALY defeats KOREA, REP. 4-0
Venue: Circolo Tennis Cagliari, Cagliari, ITA (clay – outdoor)

The Italians did not drop any of their eight sets played against South Korea, earning a 4-0 victory in their Davis Cup Qualifier.

Simone Bolelli and Fabio Fognini clinched the tie on Saturday with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Ji Sung Nam and Min-Kyu Song. Stefano Travaglia beat Yunseong Chung 6-0, 6-1 in a dead rubber.

GERMANY defeats BELARUS 4-1
Venue: Castello Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, GER (hard – indoor)

Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies showed on Saturday the clutch part of their games that helped them win last year’s Roland Garros title and qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals. The doubles stars gave Germany a 2-1 lead over Belarus with a 6-4, 7-6(5) victory against Ilya Ivashka and Andrei Vasilevski.

That allowed powerful right-hander Jan-Lennard Struff to seal the tie with a 6-3, 6-2 win against Egor Gerasimov, who beat Philipp Kohlschreiber on Friday. Dominik Koepfer added a win for Germany, defeating Daniil Ostapenkov 6-0, 6-2.

KAZAKHSTAN defeats NETHERLANDS 3-1
Venue: National Tennis Center, Nur-Sultan, KAZ (hard – indoor)

Kazakhstan used an all-around team effort to earn its spot in Madrid, defeating the Netherlands 3-1.

Andrey Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovyesov won a crucial doubles rubber with a 6-3, 6-3 victory against Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer. That gave in-form Alexander Bublik an opportunity to clinch the tie, and he did not let slip that chance.

Bublik beat Dutch veteran Haase 7-6(4), 6-1. The 22-year-old won both of his singles matches this weekend, also defeating Tallon Griekspoor on Friday.

CZECH REPUBLIC defeats SLOVAKIA 3-1
Venue: AXA Arena NTC, Bratislava, SVK (clay – indoor)

2019 Nitto ATP Finals doubles competitor Filip Polasek and his countryman, Igor Zelenay, gave Slovakia its first point against the Czech Republic with a 6-4, 6-4 triumph against Jonas Forejtek and Zdenek Kolar.

But Jiri Vesely got his country back on track, defeating Andrej Martin 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 to send the Czech Republic to Madrid. Vesely, this year’s Pune champion, also beat Jozef Kovalik on Friday.