France survive scare to beat Japan in Davis Cup
| 2019 Davis Cup finals |
|---|
| Venue: Caja Magica, Madrid Dates: 18-24 November |
| Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra from Wednesday, 20 November; Live text coverage on selected matches on the BBC Sport website and app. Click here for Live Guide. |
French pair Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert came from behind to win a deciding doubles tie in a 2-1 victory over Japan at the Davis Cup finals.
The Australian Open champions beat Ben McLachlan and Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 7-5 in a dramatic third set.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga beat Uchiyama 6-2 6-1 in the opening singles match before world number 10 Gael Monfils lost 7-5 6-2 to Yoshihito Nishioka.
Last year’s runners-up France take on Serbia on Thursday.
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On a more positive note for Japan, leading singles player Kei Nishikori, who was ranked eighth in the world in October when he underwent surgery on his right elbow, posted a video of himself on social media holding a racquet “for the first time” since picking up the injury.
Elsewhere in Group E, the Netherlands – Great Britain’s opponents on Wednesday – lost 2-1 to Kazakhstan after Robin Haase and Jean-Julien Rojer were beaten 6-4 7-6 (7-2) in the deciding doubles match by Alexander Bublik and Mikhail Kukushkin.
Haase, ranked 163rd in the world, had earlier come from behind to beat Bublik 7-5 3-6 7-6 (7-5) in his singles match after Dutch compatriot Botic van de Zandschulp lost 6-2 6-2 to Kukushkin.
And in Group C, Argentina beat Chile 2-0 thanks to victories from Guido Pella and Diego Schwartzman in both singles matches.
Pella, ranked 25th in the world, beat Nicolas Jarry 6-4 6-3 in the opening match of the day on centre court before Schwartzman’s 6-2 6-2 win over Cristian Garin.
“It’s the end of the season but I think I played one of the best matches for sure of the year, maybe in my career,” said Schwartzman. “I think Guido [Pella] helped me a lot to be more confident and I played unreal tennis.”
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The new format
Eighteen nations are split into six groups of three, with the group winners and two best-placed runners-up progressing to the quarter-finals.
The two semi-finals will be played on Saturday, 23 November with the two winners going through to the final on Sunday, 24 November.
| The six groups | |
|---|---|
| Group A: France, Serbia, Japan | Group B: Croatia, Spain, Russia |
| Group C: Argentina, Germany, Chile | Group D: Belgium, Australia, Colombia |
| Group E: Great Britain, Kazakhstan, Netherlands | Group F: United States, Italy, Canada |
| Which of the world’s top 20 are playing? | |
|---|---|
| Rafael Nadal (Spain) [1] | Fabio Fognini (Italy) [12] |
| Novak Djokovic (Serbia) [2] | Diego Schwartzman (Argentina) [14] |
| Matteo Berrettini (Italy) [8] | Denis Shapovalov (Canada) [15] |
| Roberto Bautista Agut (Spain) [9] | Karen Khachanov (Russia) [17] |
| Gael Monfils (France) [10] | Alex de Minaur (Australia) [18] |
| David Goffin (Belgium) [11] | |
Schedule – who plays when?
Group stage: Monday, 18 November – Thursday, 21 November
Quarter-finals: Thursday, 21 November – Friday, 22 November
Semi-finals: Saturday, 23 November
Final: Sunday, 24 November