(April 6, 2014) France, Italy and the Czech Republic each had to rally from 1-2 down going into Sunday’s play in Davis Cup and each team won their final two rubbers to join the Czech Republic in the semifinals which will take place September 12-14.
France came back from a 0-2 deficit on Friday to beat Germany, closing out the tie on Sunday with wins from Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils. It’s only the eighth time in Davis Cup history that a team has come back from being down two matches to none. They will face the Czech Republic in the semifinals who beat Japan 5-0.
Tsonga dominated Tobias Kamke 6-3, 6-2, 6-4. Tsonga hit 45 winners in the match.
Gael Monfils sealed the win for France, beating Peter Gojowczyk 6-1, 7-6 (0), 6-2. Monfils won the first five games of the match and shut out his opponent in the second set tiebreak.
Team Italy came into Sunday’s play down 1-2. An inspired Fabio Fognini beat Wimbledon champion Andy Murray 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to level the tie at 2-2. Andreas Seppi completed the comeback by topping James Ward 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.
It will be the first time in 16 years that Italy has reached the semifinals of Davis Cup. Italy has won the Davis Cup only once, back in 1976.
Italy will face Switzerland next.
Stanislas Wawrinka and Roger Federer won their matches on Sunday to seal Switzerland’s win over a game Kazakhstan team 3-2.
Wawrinka leveled the tie at 2-2 with Kazakhstan rallying to beat Mikhail Kukushkin 6-7(4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 for his first point of the weekend. The Australian Open champion lost his opening singles match to Golubev and the doubles where he teamed up with Federer. The Swiss did not allow any break points during the match.
For the first time in his career, Roger Federer played a live fifth rubber in a Davis Cup tie. No. 4 Federer held back No. 64 Andrey Golubev 7-6(0), 6-2, 6-
For Switzerland, they have sealed a berth in their first Davis Cup semifinal in 11 years. They’ll play Italy at home for a chance to reach the final.
The nations competing in the World Group play-offs which take place the same weekend as the semifinals are:
World Group first round losing nations: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, Serbia, Spain and USA.
Zone Group I second round winning nations: Brazil, Croatia, Colombia, India, Israel, Slovak Republic, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
The draw for the play-offs will take place on Tuesday.
Davis Cup Results:
WORLD GROUP QUARTERFINALS
CZECH REPUBLIC defeated JAPAN 5-0
Venue: Ariake Coliseum, Tokyo, JPN (hard – indoor)
Radek Stepanek (CZE) d. Tatsuma Ito (JPN) 67(5) 76(5) 61 75
Lukas Rosol (CZE) d. Taro Daniel (JPN) 64 64 36 46 62
Lukas Rosol/Radek Stepanek (CZE) d. Tatsuma Ito/Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) 64 64 64
Lukas Rosol (CZE) d. Yasutaka Uchiyama (JPN) 63 36 64
Jiri Vesely (CZE) d. Taro Daniel (JPN) 64 64
FRANCE defeated GERMANY 3-2
Venue: Palais des Sports Jean Weille, Nancy, FRA (hard – indoor)
Tobias Kamke (GER) d. Julien Benneteau (FRA) 76(8) 63 62
Peter Gojowczyk (GER) d. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) 57 76(3) 36 76(8) 86
Julien Benneteau/Michael Llodra (FRA) d. Andre Begemann/Tobias Kamke (GER) 61 76(5) 46 75
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA) d. Tobias Kamke (GER) 63 62 64
Gael Monfils (FRA) d. Peter Gojowczyk (GER) 61 76(0) 62
ITALY defeated GREAT BRITAIN 3-2
Venue: Tennis Club Napoli, Naples, ITA (clay – outdoor)
Fabio Fognini (ITA) d. James Ward (GBR) 64 26 64 61
Andy Murray (GBR) d. Andreas Seppi (ITA) 64 75 63
Colin Fleming/Andy Murray (GBR) d. Simone Bolelli/Fabio Fognini (ITA) 63 62 36 75
Fabio Fognini (ITA) d. Andy Murray (GBR) 63 63 64
Andreas Seppi (ITA) d. James Ward (GBR) 64 63 64
SWITZERLAND defeated KAZAKHSTAN 3-2
Venue: Palexpo, Geneva, SUI (hard – indoor)
Andrey Golubev (KAZ) d. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 76(5) 62 36 76(5)
Roger Federer (SUI) d. Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 64 64 62
Andrey Golubev/Aleksandr Nedovyesov (KAZ) d. Roger Federer/Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 64 76(5) 46 76(6)
Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) d. Mikhail Kukushkin (KAZ) 67(4) 64 64 64
Roger Federer (SUI) d. Andrey Golubev (KAZ) 76(0) 62 63
AMERICAS ZONE GROUP I SECOND ROUND
BRAZIL defeated ECUADOR 3-1
Venue: Francisco Segura Cano, Guayaquil, ECU (clay – outdoor)
Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA) d. Julio-Cesar Campozano (ECU) 64 26 64 64
Emilio Gomez (ECU) d. Guilherme Clezar (BRA) 67(3) 64 1-1 ret.
Marcelo Melo/Bruno Soares (BRA) d. Gonzalo Escobar/Giovanni Lapentti (ECU) 62 60 63
Rogerio Dutra Silva (BRA) d. Emilio Gomez (ECU) 64 67(10) 61 61
Julio-Cesar Campozano (ECU) v Guilherme Clezar (BRA) – not played
COLOMBIA defeated DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 4-1
Venue: Estadio de Tenis “Alvaro Carlos Jordan”, Cali, COL (clay – outdoor)
Santiago Giraldo (COL) d. Jose Hernandez (DOM) 62 46 64 67(3) 62
Alejandro Falla (COL) d. Victor Estrella (DOM) 46 62 57 62 62
Juan-Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah (COL) d. Victor Estrella/Jose Hernandez (DOM) 63 62 64
Peter Bertran (DOM) d. Robert Farah (COL) 26 61 64
Juan-Sebastian Cabal (COL) d. Jose Olivares (DOM) 60 61
ASIA/OCEANIA ZONE GROUP I SECOND ROUND
UZBEKISTAN defeated CHINA, P.R. 3-2
Venue: Tianjin Tennis Center, Tianjin, CHN (hard – outdoor)
Denis Istomin (UZB) d. Zhang Ze (CHN) 64 46 36 63 64
Wu Di (CHN) d. Farrukh Dustov (UZB) 16 76(4) 76(4) 36 97
Farrukh Dustov/Denis Istomin (UZB) d. Gong Mao-Xin/Li Zhe (CHN) 64 62 62
Wu Di (CHN) d. Denis Istomin (UZB) 16 75 63 75
Farrukh Dustov (UZB) d. Zhang Ze (CHN) 62 16 63 67(4) 63
INDIA defeated KOREA, REPUBLIC 3-1
Venue: Spo1 Tennis Courts, Busan, KOR (hard – outdoor)
Somdev Devvarman (IND) d. Chung Hyeon (KOR) 76(4) 76(3) 64
Lim Yong-Kyu (KOR) d. Sanam Singh (IND) 76(5) 64 64
Rohan Bopanna/Saketh Myneni (IND) d. Lee Hyung-Taik/Lim Yong-Kyu (KOR) 76(4) 57 76(2) 63
Somdev Devvarman (IND) d. Lim Yong-Kyu (KOR) 64 57 63 61
Chung Hyeon (KOR) v Sanam Singh (IND) – not played
EUROPE/AFRICA ZONE GROUP I SECOND ROUND
CROATIA defeated POLAND 3-1
Venue: Torwar Hall, Warsaw, POL (hard – indoor)
Marin Cilic (CRO) d. Michal Przysiezny (POL) 61 64 64
Borna Coric (CRO) d. Jerzy Janowicz (POL) 26 62 75 57 64
Mariusz Fyrstenberg/Marcin Matkowski (POL) d. Marin Draganja/Mate Pavic (CRO) 67(1) 76(4) 46 76(2) 64
Marin Cilic (CRO) d. Jerzy Janowicz (POL) 36 67(5) 64 61 63
Michal Przysiezny (POL) v Borna Coric (CRO) – not played
ISRAEL defeated SLOVENIA 3-1
Venue: SRC Marina Portoroz, SLO (clay – outdoor)
Amir Weintraub (ISR) d. Blaz Kavcic (SLO) 46 75 63 36 64
Blaz Rola (SLO) d. Dudi Sela (ISR) 63 64 64
Jonathan Erlich/Andy Ram (ISR) d. Blaz Rola/Grega Zemlja (SLO) 76(7) 46 76(5) 63
Dudi Sela (ISR) d. Grega Zemlja (SLO) 62 67(5) 60 62
Blaz Rola (SLO) v Amir Weintraub (ISR) – not played
UKRAINE defeated SWEDEN 4-1
Venue: Baltiska Hallen, Malmo, SWE (hard – indoor)
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) d. Johan Brunstrom (SWE) 64 64 57 36 1311
Artem Smirnov (UKR) d. Markus Eriksson (SWE) 64 61 62
Johan Brunstrom/Robert Lindstedt (SWE) d. Sergei Bubka/Denys Molchanov (UKR) 76(4) 67(6) 36 64 108
Sergiy Stakhovsky (UKR) d. Markus Eriksson (SWE) 76(5) 76(4) 64
Sergei Bubka (UKR) d. Robert Lindstedt (SWE) 57 76(3) ret.
SLOVAK REPUBLIC defeated AUSTRIA 4-1
Venue: Aegon Arena, National Tennis Centre, Bratislava, SVK (hard – indoor)
Norbert Gombos (SVK) d. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 64 36 63 64
Lukas Lacko (SVK) d. Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) 76(3) 46 46 62 63
Martin Klizan/Michal Mertinak (SVK) d. Alexander Peya/Dominic Thiem (AUT) 67(4) 36 76(5) 64 64
Andreas Haider-Maurer (AUT) d. Norbert Gombos (SVK) 76(5) 75
Lukas Lacko (SVK) d. Gerald Melzer (AUT) 46 63 62
AMERICAS ZONE GROUP II SECOND ROUND
BARBADOS defeated EL SALVADOR 4-1
Venue: National Tennis Centre, St Michael, BAR (hard – outdoor)
Darian King (BAR) d. Rafael Arevalo (ESA) 61 63 63
Marcelo Arevalo (ESA) d. Haydn Lewis (BAR) 76 (5) 57 64 76(1)
Darian King/Haydn Lewis (BAR) d. Marcelo Arevalo/Rafael Arevalo (ESA) 26 64 76(9) ret.
Darian King (BAR) d. Marcelo Arevalo (ESA) 60 1-0 ret.
Seanon Williams (BAR) d. Salvador Andres Bolanos (ESA) 62 67(5) 76(8)
MEXICO defeated PERU 3-1
Venue: Club Britania Zavaleta, Puebla, MEX (hard – outdoor)
Miguel-Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) d. Mauricio Echazu (PER) 63 46 76(2) 64
Duilio Beretta (PER) d. Cesar Ramirez (MEX) 26 64 26 61 62
Santiago Gonzalez/Miguel-Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) d. Sergio Galdos/Rodrigo Sanchez (PER) 62 61 61
Miguel-Angel Reyes-Varela (MEX) d. Duilio Beretta (PER) 63 76(2) 46 63
Cesar Ramirez (MEX) v Mauricio Echazu (PER) – not played
AMERICAS ZONE GROUP II PLAY-OFF
CHILE defeated PARAGUAY 5-0
Venue: Club Palestino, Santiago, CHI (clay – outdoor)
Gonzalo Lama (CHI) d. Juan Borba (PAR) 63 60 61
Christian Garin (CHI) d. Gustavo Ramirez (PAR) 46 63 60 63
Jorge Aguilar/Paul Capdeville (CHI) d. Ramon Delgado/Gustavo Ramirez (PAR) 62 64 64
Jorge Aguilar (CHI) d. Juan-Carlos Ramirez (PAR) 64 62
Christian Garin (CHI) d. Juan Borba (PAR) 62 61
BOLIVIA defeated GUATEMALA 3-1
Venue: Country Club Cochabamba, Cochabamba, BOL (clay – outdoor)
Christopher Diaz-Figueroa (GUA) d. Federico Zeballos (BOL) 76(8) 76(4) 76(4)
Hugo Dellien (BOL) d. Andres Bucaro (GUA) 62 63 75
Hugo Dellien/Federico Zeballos (BOL) d. Andres Bucaro/Christopher Diaz-Figueroa (GUA) 76(3) 75 64
Hugo Dellien (BOL) d. Christopher Diaz-Figueroa (GUA) 63 36 62 46 62
Federico Zeballos (BOL) v Andres Bucaro (GUA) – not played
ASIA/OCEANIA ZONE GROUP II SECOND ROUND
PAKISTAN defeated PHILIPPINES 3-2
Venue: Philippine Columbian Association, Manila, PHI (clay – indoor)
Patrick-John Tierro (PHI) d. Aqeel Khan (PAK) 75 64 64
Ruben Gonzales (PHI) d. Samir Iftihkar (PAK) 64 63 61
Aqeel Khan/Aisam Qureshi (PAK) d. Ruben Gonzales/Treat Huey (PHI) 75 63 62
Aqeel Khan (PAK) d. Johnny Arcilla (PHI) 46 61 26 63 5-1 ret.
Aisam Qureshi (PAK) d. Patrick-John Tierro (PHI) 62 63 36 64
THAILAND defeated KUWAIT 4-1
Venue: The National Tennis Development Centre, Nonthaburi, THA (hard – outdoor)
Pruchya Isarow (THA) d. Abdulhameed Alshatti (KUW) 60 60 60
Mohammad Ghareeb (KUW) d. Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul (THA) 36 76(8) 76(4) 36 75
Pruchya Isarow/Nuttanon Kadchapanan (THA) d. Hasan Al Mousa/Mohammad Ghareeb (KUW) 76(2) 75 63
Pruchya Isarow (THA) d. Mohammad Ghareeb (KUW) 62 76(12) 16 61
Warit Sornbutnark (THA) d. Ali Ghareeb (KUW) 63 64
ASIA/OCEANIA ZONE GROUP II PLAY-OFF
SRI LANKA defeated VIETNAM 3-2
Venue: The 198 Tennis Club, Da Lat City, VIE (hard – outdoor)
Minh-Quan Do (VIE) d. Dineshkanthan Thangarajan (SRI) 63 64 64
Harshana Godamanna (SRI) d. Thien Nguyen Hoang (VIE) 62 63 62
Sharmal Dissanayake/Harshana Godamanna (SRI) d. Minh-Quan Do/Quoc-Khanh Le (VIE) 64 75 63
Thien Nguyen Hoang (VIE) d. Sharmal Dissanayake (SRI) 62 63 64
Harshana Godamanna (SRI) d. Minh-Quan Do (VIE) 63 75 60
EUROPE/AFRICA ZONE GROUP II SECOND ROUND
LITHUANIA defeated SOUTH AFRICA 3-2
Venue: Irene Country Club, Centurion, RSA (hard – outdoor)
Ricardas Berankis (LTU) d. Jean Andersen (RSA) 63 76(2) 63
Rik de Voest (RSA) d. Laurynas Grigelis (LTU) 76(5) 76(3) 26 76(4)
Jean Andersen/Raven Klaasen (RSA) d. Ricardas Berankis/Laurynas Grigelis (LTU) 36 63 63 76(5)
Ricardas Berankis (LTU) d. Rik de Voest (RSA) 62 64 57 75
Laurynas Grigelis (LTU) d. Ruan Roelofse 76(5) 36 76(3) 64
BOSNIA/HERZEGOVINA defeated FINLAND 3-2
Venue: Tali Tennis Center, Helsinki, FIN (hard – indoor)
Damir Dzumhur (BIH) d. Juho Paukku (FIN) 63 76(4) 64
Mirza Basic (BIH) d. Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) 36 76(3) 36 63 86
Henri Kontinen/Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) d. Mirza Basic/Tomislav Brkic (BIH) 63 76(4) 62
Jarkko Nieminen (FIN) d. Damir Dzumhur (BIH) 75 76(1) 61
Mirza Basic (BIH) d. Juho Paukku (FIN) 36 46 63 75 64
MOLDOVA defeated BELARUS 4-1
Venue: Manejul de Atletica Usoara, Chisinau, MDA (clay – indoor)
Radu Albot (MDA) d. Dzmitry Zhyrmont (BLR) 62 62 36 62
Maxim Dubarenco (MDA) d. Uladzimir Ignatik (BLR) 75 76(5) 63
Egor Gerasimov/Max Mirnyi (BLR) d. Andrei Ciumac/Andrei Gorban (MDA) 63 62 60
Radu Albot (MDA) d. Egor Gerasimov (BLR) 36 16 63 61 62
Maxim Dubarenco (MDA) d. Dzmitry Zhyrmont (BLR) 76(3) 76(2)
DENMARK defeated LUXEMBOURG 5-0
Venue: Hillerod Tennis Klub, DEN (hard – indoor)
Martin Pedersen (DEN) d. Ugo Nastasi (LUX) 64 64 61
Frederik Nielsen (DEN) d. Mike Scheidweiler (LUX) 63 64 57 67(5) 61
Thomas Kromann/Frederik Nielsen (DEN) d. Gilles Kremer/Mike Scheidweiler (LUX) 46 64 57 64 62
Frederik Nielsen (DEN) d. Ugo Nastasi (LUX) 64 36 62
Mikael Torpegaard (DEN) d. Christophe Tholl (LUX) 62 63
EUROPE/AFRICA ZONE GROUP II PLAY-OFFS
MONACO defeated NORWAY 5-0
Venue: Oslo Tennis Arena, Oslo, NOR (hard – indoor)
Benjamin Balleret (MON) d. Viktor Durasovic (NOR) 61 62 64
Romain Arneodo (MON) d. Joachim Bjerke (NOR) 76(7) 63 63
Guillaume Couillard/Thomas Oger (MON) d. Stian Boretti/Erling Tveit (NOR) 62 64 63
Benjamin Balleret (MON) d. Joachim Bjerke (NOR) 76(5) 64
Romain Arneodo (MON) d. Viktor Durasovic (NOR) 61 62
BULGARIA defeated GREECE 4-1
Venue: Ilioupoli Tennis Club, Athens, GRE (clay – outdoor)
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) d. Markos Kalovelonis (GRE) 63 63 60
Dimitar Kutrovsky (BUL) d. Theodoros Angelinos (GRE) 64 63 16 63
Grigor Dimitrov/Dimitar Kutrovsky (BUL) d. Alexandros Jakupovic/Markos Kalovelonis (GRE) 76(4) 62 64
Alexandros Jakupovic (GRE) d. Dinko Halachev (BUL) 76(2) 61
Dimitar Kutrovsky (BUL) d. Charalampos Kapogiannis (GRE) 57 60 61
IRELAND defeated EGYPT 3-2
Venue: Castleknock Tennis Club, Dublin, IRL (hard – indoor)
James McGee (IRL) d. Karim-Mohamed Maamoun (EGY) 60 63 62
Mohamed Safwat (EGY) d. Sam Barry (IRL) 36 75 75 76(5)
Sam Barry/James Cluskey (IRL) d. Sherif Sabry/Mohamed Safwat (EGY) 62 76(6) 62
James McGee (IRL) d. Mohamed Safwat (EGY) 75 64 63
Mazen Osama (EGY) d. Daniel Glancy (IRL) 76(4) 76(5)
MOROCCO defeated CYPRUS 4-1
Venue: Complexe Sportif Al Amal, Casablanca, MAR (clay – outdoor)
Sergis Kyratzis (CYP) d. Hicham Khaddari (MAR) 26 62 61 75
Lamine Ouahab (MAR) d. Petros Chrysochos (CYP) 63 64 64
Lamine Ouahab/Mehdi Ziadi (MAR) d. Petros Chrysochos/Rares Cuzdriorean (CYP) 76(6) 61 36 46 64
Lamine Ouahab (MAR) d. Sergis Kyratzis (CYP) 60 60 60
Ayoub Chakrouni (MAR) d. Constantinos Ioannides (CYP) 63 62