TOKYO: France wrapped up victory in their Davis Cup first-round tie against Japan after Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut won Saturday’s doubles to give the visitors an unassailable 3-0 lead.
The Wimbledon champions swatted aside Yuichi Sugita and Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 after Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon had dominated the opening day’s singles in Tokyo on Friday.
Japan have failed to win a single set in three matches in the absence of world number five Kei Nishikori, who opted to sit out the World Group clash.
Gasquet swept past Taro Daniel 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 on Friday before Simon overpowered Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to put Yannich Noah’s team firmly in the driving seat.
Nine-time winners France have now won all four of their Davis Cup meetings with Japan, who will look to avoid a whitewash in Sunday’s dead-rubber reverse singles.
The French will face either Canada or Britain in April’s quarterfinals.
New Zealand beats India in Davis Cup doubles
New Zealand’s Artem Sitak and Michael Venus beat India’s Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan on Saturday in the Davis Cup doubles rubber in Pune, with the host’s still leading the Asia/Oceania Group I tie 2-1.
The 3-1 loss in the match against the visitors denied Paes a chance to set a record of winning the maximum matches in the tournament as he stands level with Nicloa Pietrageli of Italy with 42 match victories.
Paes, 43, was playing his 55th doubles match since making his debut in the Davis Cup in 1990.
The Indian pair lost 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6), 6-3 after starting off strongly in the first set without losing a serve.
But Sitak, ranked 56, and Venus, ranked 36, fought back to level the scores in the next round.
The Kiwis rode the momentum in the third set and won it in a tie-breaker 7-6(6).
Paes, ranked 64 and Vardhan, ranked 338, were humbled in the fouth set 6-3.
On Friday India won both their singles matches against the visitors in straight sets, taking a 2-0 lead in the rubber.
In the first match, Yuki Bhambri beat Finn Tearney which was followed by another comprehensive victory by Ramkumar Ramanathan against Jose Statham.
India have not lost to New Zealand in the Davis Cup since 1978 when the visitors beat them 4-1 in Delhi during the Eastern Zone semifinal.
Bhambri is slated to play Statham, and Ramanathan will take on Tearney in the two reverse matches on Monday.
Zverev brothers’ defeat leaves Germany trailing
Hosts Germany are trailing Belgium 2-1 in their home Davis Cup World Group first-round match after brothers Alexander and Mischa Zverev lost their doubles rubber on Saturday.
Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore sealed a 6-3, 7-6(7/4), 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 win over the Zverev brothers in Frankfurt over three hours and 13 minutes of a tight doubles rubber.
Alexander Zverev, 19, was a late replacement for doubles expert Jan-Lennard Struff, who dropped out with a virus.
The teenager has the chance to redeem himself in Sunday’s deciding singles when he is due to face Steve Darcis before Philipp Kohlschreiber plays Arthur De Greef.
The Wimbledon champions swatted aside Yuichi Sugita and Yasutaka Uchiyama 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 after Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon had dominated the opening day’s singles in Tokyo on Friday.
Japan have failed to win a single set in three matches in the absence of world number five Kei Nishikori, who opted to sit out the World Group clash.
Gasquet swept past Taro Daniel 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 on Friday before Simon overpowered Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to put Yannich Noah’s team firmly in the driving seat.
Nine-time winners France have now won all four of their Davis Cup meetings with Japan, who will look to avoid a whitewash in Sunday’s dead-rubber reverse singles.
The French will face either Canada or Britain in April’s quarterfinals.
New Zealand beats India in Davis Cup doubles
New Zealand’s Artem Sitak and Michael Venus beat India’s Leander Paes and Vishnu Vardhan on Saturday in the Davis Cup doubles rubber in Pune, with the host’s still leading the Asia/Oceania Group I tie 2-1.
The 3-1 loss in the match against the visitors denied Paes a chance to set a record of winning the maximum matches in the tournament as he stands level with Nicloa Pietrageli of Italy with 42 match victories.
Paes, 43, was playing his 55th doubles match since making his debut in the Davis Cup in 1990.
The Indian pair lost 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6), 6-3 after starting off strongly in the first set without losing a serve.
But Sitak, ranked 56, and Venus, ranked 36, fought back to level the scores in the next round.
The Kiwis rode the momentum in the third set and won it in a tie-breaker 7-6(6).
Paes, ranked 64 and Vardhan, ranked 338, were humbled in the fouth set 6-3.
On Friday India won both their singles matches against the visitors in straight sets, taking a 2-0 lead in the rubber.
In the first match, Yuki Bhambri beat Finn Tearney which was followed by another comprehensive victory by Ramkumar Ramanathan against Jose Statham.
India have not lost to New Zealand in the Davis Cup since 1978 when the visitors beat them 4-1 in Delhi during the Eastern Zone semifinal.
Bhambri is slated to play Statham, and Ramanathan will take on Tearney in the two reverse matches on Monday.
Zverev brothers’ defeat leaves Germany trailing
Hosts Germany are trailing Belgium 2-1 in their home Davis Cup World Group first-round match after brothers Alexander and Mischa Zverev lost their doubles rubber on Saturday.
Belgium’s Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore sealed a 6-3, 7-6(7/4), 4-6, 4-6, 6-3 win over the Zverev brothers in Frankfurt over three hours and 13 minutes of a tight doubles rubber.
Alexander Zverev, 19, was a late replacement for doubles expert Jan-Lennard Struff, who dropped out with a virus.
The teenager has the chance to redeem himself in Sunday’s deciding singles when he is due to face Steve Darcis before Philipp Kohlschreiber plays Arthur De Greef.
